Of Asgardian Blood
by avengurl
Summary: Magic is throughout the Nine Worlds, everywhere but Earth, aka Midgard. When rumor spreads of a Midgardian Sorcerer who is to stop the upcoming apocalyptic battle of Ragnarok, Tony Stark finds out what it means to be of Asgardian Blood and finds the weight of the survival of the Nine Worlds on the shoulders of him and the god of mischief, Loki Laufeyson. [Eventual Frostiron]
1. A Walk in the Park

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 1: **_A Walk in the Park_

Rating: T

Length: 2,915 words

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: Tony learns of his heritage and Frigga learns of her newest follower.

* * *

It was an ordinary day. There was nothing much going on; the restoration of New York was complete, Loki was in Asgard, and the Avengers had barely any work left to do. They had gone their separate ways of course, and Tony mostly hung out in his New York Stark tower, which was also restored to its former glory. No more Loki-imprints in his wooden floor now.

Still, the serenity was a bit eery, even to Tony, who liked to ignore most everything in the world that had nothing to do with him. Thor hadn't come down to Earth in ages as well and it seemed like the whole universe was at a stand still. No villains, no bad guys, no superheroes performing acrobatic heroics. Just the usual "catch-that-robber-he-stole-my-purse" stuff, which irritated and insulted Tony simultaneously. Here he was, in a suit of red and gold pointing his palm at a quivering black clothed man when he could be off doing some real work, like, oh, stopping another psychopathic alien god from taking over Earth.

But no. All the villains in the world were having a congregation or something, Tony didn't know, he just wanted to kick ass. Have a real battle that challenged him. So far, his biggest challenge was upgrading his suit, which, needless to say, was starting to become less of a challenge as he found himself doing so more often. Plus, every so often, he would feel this weird jumpstart in his arc reactor. It scared him to death the first time it occurred.

He was just messing around with a couple robots when the light of the reactor flickered off. Just like that. Off. Completely out like a light, pun intended. Tony had gasped with a hand to his chest and collapsed onto the floor, sweating as he reached for a cabinet where his spare rested. Before his shaking fingers could grab a hold of the handle, the reactor flickered back on, glowing blue light and all. It had happened three more times since then, each time longer than before.

It never killed him and just mostly freaked him out. Once even, Steve had come over for reasons Tony didn't understand and his arc reactor went out. Tony fell off the couch and the blonde had a panic attack, running around the tower trying to find Tony's spare. By the time Steve returned with a spare in hand, panting with blonde hair splayed across his face, Tony was watching television with a whistle, tablet in hand and arc reactor back to work. Seeing the look on Steve's face was worth getting the spare chucked at his head.

Anyway, that is beside the point.

It was a normal day. Normal as in Tony was down in his lab trying to figure out why his arc reactor was acting up. If any villain finally decided to come out of hiding, Tony would be toast if his arc reactor decided "hey, let me go out for a sec and leave you on your own to die". According to his calculations, the next time could last for five minutes, which would definitely kill him. That could not happen. So, he was working hard to find a solution, any solution really. That was when the day turned not normal. Abnormal in a way. Weird.

"Thor?" Tony exclaimed when he looked up from important math equations. There was no doubt about it, the frazzled blonde armored buff guy in front of him was indeed Thor the Thunder God, fellow Avenger of his from the mystical alien land of Asgard. Yes, the Asgard from Norse legend.

"Friend Anthony, I wish to ask something of you," the god asked, voice hoarse and not as boisterous as Tony recalled. The brunette placed down his tablet with a frown and stood up, walking toward Thor, who still stood in his doorway, hammer in hand.

"Shoot. I'm all ears."

"Loki has escaped from Asgard."

"How is that a question?" Tony growled, fists at his side. He would never forgive the black-haired god for tossing him out the window.

"That is not my question, Stark. I came to ask if you have seen him recently. He needs to return to prison where he belongs."

Tony raised an eyebrow as he turned from Thor and waltzed back to his seat. "Me see Loki? Thor, you would know if I've seen Loki. I have no way to contact you, but you'd find out, I'd make sure of it one way or another." the man turned mid pace, watching the thunder god sulk. "Why'd you ask me though?"

"Loki is one I can not understand. He may think hiding with the enemy is his one way to escape his punishment, so I had to ask."

"Are you insinuating that I would hide Loki here in Stark Tower with me?!"

"What? No, Stark, I-"

"If you still have yet to notice, Thor, your brother is an ego-driven megalomaniac psychopathic sorcerer who wants everyone on Earth under his control. Why the hell would I keep him here with me?"

Thor paled, staring at the finger pointed in his face. Those blue eyes were wide with shock and honestly, Tony was a little shocked, too. "I mean not to insult you, Stark. I only wish to keep Midgard safe just as much as you. Loki is a threat and I aim to destroy all threats."

"Nah, it's my fault. I've been high-strung recently with nothing much to do. Where have all the villains gone? Sheesh." the engineer stretched slightly as he walked back to one of his cluttered desks, sitting down on it once he had cleared space, "Look, Loki's out and about, but he hasn't done shit yet. If he does anything, I'll be sure to alert you."

"The Bifrost is repaired. Heimdall can once more see the activities of Midgard. He will be sure to alert me so your efforts are not needed. I thank you for the kindness though." Thor smiled lightly before sighing, "I must be on my way to look for Loki. He has not used magic, which has made it harder to find him."

"You don't have some weird brother mind connection thing?" Thor gave Tony a look of utter confusion, "No? Well then, forget I said it. I thought maybe since you both sort of use magic, you could contact each other through it. Brotherly bonds and all."

"Those bonds have been severed, Stark. I can no longer reach him that way."

With that, Thor pointed his hammer toward the ceiling and blasted his way out the tower, tearing a godly hole through every floor of Tony's tower in the process.

Tony groaned as he slid off the table onto the cool tiled floor. "Jarvis, tell Pepper Thor visited and created a mess. We'll need the workers again."

"Of course, sir," the AI system replied.

So, that was abnormal event number one for the day. Yes, there was more.

About three hours after Thor's departure and the sketchy patching of the holes in the tower, Tony went skimming through some random files that had gotten scattered after Thor left. He had never seen them before and found them interesting, guffawing at the silly names he found in the file. Things like Sleipnir and Freyr and Surtr. Seriously, who names a horse Sleipnir? And a male god named Freyr? Yes, the arrival of Thor and Loki shocked the world, Tony included, but seriously, these names just couldn't be real.

Until he found the names Howard and Maria Stark on the files. He was confused of course; why would his parents names be on files with crazy ass foreign names? So, Tony read on, curious with nothing better to do. At first read, the files looked like a sort of lineage chart. A tracing of bloodlines of a sort. If his eyes were correct, which they are, the papers said that Howard Stark was a descendant of Fulla and Gna while his mom was a descendant of Eir and Hlin, whoever the fuck they were.

"Hey Jarv, who are Fulla, Gna, Eir and Hlin? Apparently my folks are descendants of these weirdos."

"Fulla is one of Queen Frigga's attendants, her closest one to be exact, sir, being her sister. Hlin and Gna are also her attendants. Gna is her messenger and runs errands for Queen Frigga. The three of them are goddesses. Eir is Queen Frigga's companion and she is a goddess valkyrie associated with healing. All four serve Frigga and Frigga only."

Tony blinked twice in confusion. "Did I hear you correctly? All four of these women are goddesses?"

"Yes, sir."

Tony could barely breathe. It couldn't be true, what Jarvis said. Fulla, Hlin, Gna and Eir aren't common names, but they couldn't be the same goddesses! If so, then that meant Tony was the one being with the bloodline of all four goddesses who serve Frigga. Which also meanr he wasn't human. He was part god. Part Asgardian.

"No, no, no, that's not it!" he shouted, tossing the papers to the side as if they burned him, "I can't- I'm not the descendant of them! These papers are lies. How come you never told me about them? Why have I never seen them before?"

"I know not, sire. I did not know they existed. In face, I am surprised you can read the text."

"What do you mean?" grump Tony mumbled as he kicked the strewn papers, eyes glaring at the names of his parents.

"It is written in Old Norse."

"Fuck it all!" Tony yelled, storming out of the lab with livid anger, "I can't read Old Norse, I don't even know what the fuck it is! And how come I don't have godly powers if 'm the descendant of four goddesses? Don't tell me my innate beauty and snarkyness is my godly power!"

Tony didn't even know who he was talking to, he just screamed at the ceiling. Screamed as if anyone up in the sky could hear him. And then, his arc reactor went out and he fell to the ground in a heap.

* * *

"Queen Frigga, my lady," the blonde queen looked up from her writings, surprised to find Heimdall in her doorway.

"Heimdall. I am surprised to see you. You should speak to Gna next time so you do not have to leave your post at Bifrost."

"This is urgent, Queen Frigga. I could not let my words be misspoken, even if Gna is one of the best messengers in Asgard." the gold clad man stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him.

Frigga stood, letting her gown flow behind her as she walked toward him, "What is it? Have you located my son?"

"No, Loki is still hidden to me. I assume then that he has yet to let you in on his whereabouts."

"You assume correctly, Heimdall. He speaks with me now, although it is mostly ranting. Still, it is much improvement compared to when he spoke face to face." the queen's eyes turned toward the ground, darkening slightly, "I know my son, my baby boy Loki, is still in there. I simply want him back."

"Loki will return when he feels like it. That is all I can say, Queen Frigga." Heimdall stared at the queen with his golden eyes, "You know of Anthony Edward Stark of Midgard, correct?"

"Yes, I have. He is the brave soul who managed to destroy the Chitauri mothership." blue eyes locked with gold. "He is also of the bloodline of my loyal goddesses. All four I do believe."

"Correct. He is the one being outside of Asgard who's bloodline purely serves you, Frigga." Frigga's eyes widened. "Anthony Stark is the only mortal capable of magic since he carries much Asgardian blood within him. His magic and his arc reactor are battling."

"Battling?" the queen paled slightly, a hand at her mouth. "Loki did tell me Stark's arc reactor nulled the magic from the staff."

"As of now, his arc reactor is dead and his magic is free, yet uncontrolled."

"Oh my," Frigga gasped, eyes wide with amazement. "Is he, well, will Stark be . . . tell me this Heimdall, no - never mind. I will see for myself."

"Queen Frigga, you have not used your seer magic in many centuries. I would not recommend using it. You know how hard it is to see the future of a Midgardian using it."

"But Stark carries magic, Heimdall! He is my companion, my follower. He serves me now. Tell me, is he a god? A mortal? Midgardian? What is he?" Heimdall did not reply, so the goddess turned, walking to her desk. "Stilll, Stark can not stay on Midgard with uncontrolled magic. His magic will be easily traceable and he will be manipulated. Stark needs to be taught. Taught well."

"All the sorcerers here do not teach or were killed."

"I know." a devious smirk crossed Frigga's lips as she stared at a painting of a green-eyed missing prisoner god. "We do not need a sorcerer here to teach Stark the ways of magic."

Heimdall grew confused. "My queen . . .?"

"You may leave, Heimdall. I have some business to take care of." the woman spoke no more as the Bifrost guardian left her.

She could barely believe it. She knew Stark was of four godly bloodlines that serve her, but she did not think the combination would activate such a powerful source such as magic. No, if it were just the combination, Stark would have been born using magic. It had only been three months since the invasion. If so, then maybe it was the magic of Ginnungagap, the empty space between realms, that kickstarted the mortal's magic. The magic in Ginnungagap felt Asgardian blood and all Asgardians carry magic. Stark's had just been locked and blocked for being mortal and not surrounded by magic. Still, where was his magic stored?

Most magic is stored in the heart, but Stark's arc reactor was a magnet from what Thor had told her. Yet, as Loki has said, Stark did have a mortal human heart as well. That would explain the battling. Stark's Starkium battling with his pure magic.

"Mother," Frigga turned from her desk and smiled at her worn down son, "has Loki called to you? Did he tell you of-"

"No, Thor. Loki has not spoken to me recently. Do not worry, if he ever tells me where he is, I will tell you." the blonde goddess walked to her son slowly. "I miss your brother terribly and I want him back as soon as possible as well, Thor. Yet, you know just as well as I that Loki carries a temper and a grudge."

"I know, I just-" the thunder god squeezed his blue eyes shut with a growl. "I went to my fellow Avenger Anthony Stark today."

"Oh, did you?" Hmm, perhaps Thor's magic helped kickstart Stark's magic.

"I asked him if he had seen Loki and he mentioned something about magical bonds between Loki and I." Frigga's heart snapped in two at Thor's depressed look. "I had to tell him the truth that Loki had severed those bonds. That I can no longer contact him. I wish it weren't the truth. I want to help find him, but all I can do is go through the realms with Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr and it is not helping while you are-"

"Thor, you are helping. You and Loki may not have a magic based bond anymore, but your emotional bond is still there and makes you determined to find him. Looking for him helps. Everything helps."

Thor slouched a bit and let Frigga hold him in a warm motherly embrace. It had been a long time since she had done so and honestly, she missed it. Holding her sons like this. Being a family again. Thor left shortly after the hug and Frigga opened her mind, reaching out for the familiar feeling of Loki's magic mind, his inner magic.

"Stop prodding around; I will never tell you where I reside." Loki's voice echoed through the queen's head; sharp, bitter, and annoyed. "What is it you want? I was sleeping."

"I have a request of you." Frigga looked back at her desk where the picture of Loki lied. "It is very important and urgent."

"A request of me?" Loki's laugh saddened Frigga, "I think you have contacted the wrong person. There is no way possible I will agree to such a request from you, regard of what it is, Frigga." Oh, how she ached for Loki to call her mother again.

"Loki, please. You need to do this, no one else can."

"What has Thor gotten himself into now? I quite enjoyed dressing him up as Freya to go to Thrym, but I will not clean up after anymore of his messes. Get a different sorcerer to do it." Loki's voice was angry and cold. "I no longer wish to associate with the likes of Thor and Odin."

"It is for me, Loki."

Tears formed in Frigga's eyes at the soft oh her son slipped out. It took work before Loki would properly speak to her. He never hated her like he claimed to hate Thor and Odin, but it was still rocky and he was still very angry.

"Well, what is it?"

"I want you to find Anthony Edward Stark and teach him magic."


	2. The Answer is No

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 2:** _The Answer is No_

Rating: T

Length: 3,543 words

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: Loki says no and Tony somehow survives the death of his arc reactor.

* * *

It wasn't hard for Loki to escape from prison. He stayed there for a month to humor Thor and then left with a quick spell. Since then, he had been roaming around the realms and finally found his place in Vanaheim. Loki had always liked this realm, given that they house the fertility and seer gods and goddesses. When he was younger, he would joke around with Thor and tell the blonde that he wished he was Vanir, not Aesir. Especially since he couldn't fight like Thor or Sif or the Warriors Three.

Loki could fight, mostly with daggers, bow and arrows, and the occasional short sword, but he much preferred to use combat magic in battles like the Vanir, who use seithr magic. Loki had always wanted to learn seithr magic, hence why he came to Vanaheim. He hid himself from Heimdall, an easy task he'd done many a time, discontinued his use of Aesir magic and learned the ways of seithr magic. That was why no one could trace his magic. He wasn't using it anymore.

Then, there was Frigga. His so called mother. She tried to talk to him back before he left his prison, but he wouldn't listen. Didn't care. She too kept the secret, although he would always have a soft spot for her. The first day Frigga contacted Loki through magic, he cut her off. Shut her down and tuned her out.

Obviously, that did not last long. She pestered long enough and he gave in. At first, he did not speak a word in return, smirking as she asked him to come back. As time went on though, he found himself talking with her and even ranting to her. Frigga was the one Aesir he could and would talk to. She didn't treat him like scum or a criminal. She treated him like her son and honestly, Loki missed that.

Until this.

This request that he teach a mortal magic. And not just any mortal, but Anthony Stark, the Man of Iron. The fool who disabled his magic and the one who destroyed the Chitauri mothership. Loki kindled a special hatred for the brunette that almost rivaled his hatred for Thor. Perhaps if he had told Frigga of his intense hatred, she would not have asked this of him.

Plus, since when was Stark capable of magic? He was a mortal and mortals no longer carry blood of the Asgardians; Vanir or Aesir. And then why would she ask him to teach magic? There was no way possible he would teach Stark. That was basically teaching his enemy his biggest strength and weakness! Who did Frigga think he was?

Loki ended the call right after her request and stewed in anger, sitting on his comfy bed. He was dressed in linen; a red shirt and cream pants. Apparently, red in Vanaheim had the same meaning as green in Asgard. It wasn't his favorite color and reminded him of Thor and Stark and blood, and well, not pleasant things.

The god climbed out of bed, slipping on the black combat boots at the foot of his bed. With a wave of his hand, his frazzled hair shortened and curled even more. It was weird using seithr magic all the time. Vanir magic had a calm sense to it. Relaxed, gentle and flowing. Loki wasn't used to it and found it hard to control. He had to learn to relax and concentrate on the feeling, not the force, behind the magic.

Being considered royal blood in Asgard made his looks familiar though, so to stay hidden, he kept his hair red, changed his eye color to blue and shortened his height. No one had suspected him of being Loki (to his face at least) and he had a teacher, Freyr himself to be exact. The king of Vanaheim. His sister, Freya, was the queen, but she lived in Asgard. Freyr did too, but the blonde king spent more time in Vanaheim, his home land.

Freya was the true master of seithr magic, having taught it to Odin years ago, but Loki and she were friends (well, at the least the last time he spoke to her) and she would recognize him immediately and report him to Odin and Frigga. Freyr was the next best step and Loki was learning a lot from him. There were a lot more formulas and techniques he had to learn to use the new magic, but he loved it. Learning was his thing; one of the few things he excelled at. Loki itched to use his Aesir magic, but couldn't unless he wanted Heimdall to spot him. He was already using it in the background to hide his magic traces. Today though, he could finally use seithr magic for everything and be free of Aesir magic.

Hearing a rustle, Loki turned and smiled at the black-furred dog that curled in on herself at his feet. This dog was a stray who loved to follow Loki around since his arrival at Vanaheim two months back. Loki had named her Kyna, which is the Midgardian translation of Gunna, a nickname for one called Guthrun (godly being with secrets). Anyway, Loki chose the name Kyna because he felt a weird connection, magical bond, to the four-legged animal. She liked him a lot and always had a mischievous sparkle in her green eyes.

"What's got you in here?" he asked, watching Kyna perk. "You don't like to come in here this early. Ready for your walk already?"

At that, Kyna jumped onto her feet, tail wagging excitedly as she stared up at Loki. Loki laughed cheerily as he petted her head and put on a thin jacket. One great thing about being in Vanaheim was that no one knew him. He wasn't expected to be perfect or to be king or royalty. He could be himself for once. He could be anyone he wanted. He could escape the harsh reality of the real world. Escape his failures and his true heritage. None of that mattered here.

He loved that.

_But that stupid request . . ._

Loki shook his head as he walked out of the wooden house, Kyna by his side. Frigga was trying to bring the one thing that makes him happy (magic) to his enemy (his failure). He didn't want the two worlds to mix. Not anymore. He wanted nothing to do with Frigga or Odin or Thor or Stark or anyone from his past. He was tired of being second at every single thing. He couldn't even take over a realm (or destroy one) without Thor stepping in as the golden boy to fix every damn thing.

The trickster god felt anger boiling inside him as he and Kyna walked down the empty cobblestoned street. The moon was full and bright, lending white light during the walk. Loki took a deep breath; now was not the time to get angry. He may hate Thor with a passion, but wasn't the point of escaping prison to get away from Thor? To get away from the past and look of disappointment in Frigga's eyes? To start anew in a way?

Now, Frigga was trying to get him involved with a mortal. Teach his ways to a bumbling egocentric human. Like Loki would do such a thing! He was perfectly fine on the run in Vanaheim learning seithr magic. No one knew him, no one needed to know him, he could forget.

"Hyrr," Loki turned at the name, surprised to see Freyr up and about outside palace grounds. "I did not know you take midnight walks."

"I usually don't, but my mind has kept me awake." the god smiled as he bowed his head slightly toward the Vanaheim king, "Kyna wanted to take a walk as well, and since this is a beautiful night, I decided to go out."

"I see," Freyr started walking and Loki followed him, Kyna trotting between the two. "You have learned much these past few months."

Loki nodded in response. "Yes, seithr magic is intriguing and interesting. I am used to Aesir magic so it is amazing to see how different yet similar it is." the god brushed back a strand of red hair, "I want to ask something of you."

"Ask away, my friend."

"Is it possible for a mortal to possess magic?" brown eyes turned to him with confusion. "I know, it sounds quite unusual, but I wish to know."

"Have you gone venturing and found a mortal you wish to use magic, Hyrr?"

The smirk, wriggle of the eyebrows, and twinkle of the eyes Freyr gave Loki almost made him blush.

"No, no, no, that is nonsense. Me fancy a mere mortal? No. I have heard rumors though of a Midgardian sorcerer."

"Ah," the blonde king nodded with his eyes shut. "There are mortals on Midgard who carry Asgardian blood still. Only a few have enough within them that can activate long hidden magic."

"What type? Vanir do not have mortals that carry their blood, so it must be Aesir magic."

"As you yourself have demonstrated, you do not have to be Aesir to learn seithr magic."

Loki hoped very much so that his moth- Frigga - never found out of his knowledge of seithr magic. She would make him teach it to Stark. Wait. What was Loki talking about? He was not going to agree to the request. Stark will never learn magic from Loki.

Never.

"Why is it that so many Aesir do not know the ways of seithr magic? So many Vanir sorcerers and sorceresses live in Asgard now." Freyr's brown eyes darkened slightly as a sad smile crawled onto his lips.

"Seithr magic is considered weak magic to many Aesir. On Midgard, in the ancient days, it was practiced by mostly women and any men who did practice it were usually homosexual. Even though Midgard has evolved, the view of seithr magic has yet to change for the Aesir." Loki cast his eyes downward, staring at the stoned beneath his feet. "In Vanaheim, that does not apply. Seithr magic is simply magic and Asgard magic is Aesir magic."

"In Asgard, we call seithr magic Vanir magic. I always found it interesting though. I wanted to be Vanir when I was young. War and battle were never my strength."

"If so, then why head straight into so many of them, Loki?"

Loki froze mid-step, blue eyes narrowed at the king before him. Kyna sat down and stared between the two, head cocked to the side with confusion. Freyr's face was expressionless and that irritated Loki even more.

"How did you know? I have never been out of my disguise and I never use Aesir magic near you. I have yet to use it since arriving here!"

"Have you forgotten? You use Aesir magic to hid your traces of it. To make sure no one can find you and force you to pay for your crimes." a snarl formed on Loki's lips. "Do not get angry; no one else knows. You have always had great disguises."

"Why have you yet to report me to Odin? Why teach me if I am an escaped criminal? If I have tried to take over realms and destroy them?"

"Why should I be one to deny one access to knowledge that may heal them? After all, seithr magic is sometimes a form of medical magic." Loki grit his teeth and trudged on, anger boiling in his gut once more. "Tell me, who is the mortal with magic."

"He is no one, Freyr," the angry god spat, not looking at Freyr, who was no longer walking. "He should not have magic. Frigga is a crazy old bat anyway."

"Do not speak of your mother that way."

Loki turned on his heel at that, no longer in his disguise as his green magic flared around his lanky body. Green eyes glared at Freyr and a pissed off glare was set on his face. "That woman is _not_ my mother! Frigga is not my mother, Odin is not my father and Thor is _not_ my brother. I have no family, so never address them as such!"

The king's weary brown eyes drooped at Loki's harsh words. Before Loki could let Freyr reply, he stormed off in a rage, Kyna at his heels.

Frigga was not his mother! He had no family. He does not obey her every command. He would never teach Stark and that was final.

* * *

Abnormal event number three for the day: actually being alive. Yes, the abnormalities couldn't help themselves. They just needed to make Tony Stark's life more complicated than it already was.

"Tony! Tony! Are you up?"

Brown eyes opened slowly, blinking as harsh white light stuck his sight. After a minute or so of this blinking, he recognized the faces looking down at him.

"Hey guys. Why am I still alive?" Tony scratched at his head before putting a hand to his glowing chest. "What happened?"

"Jarvis called and told us your arc reactor died. We came here as soon as possible." Steve replied, but blue eyes wide with worry. "I think you need to be watched more often. We all thought you had died."

"I should have. My calculations said my reactor would be out for five minutes. Just two kills me." the brunette sat up, batting away the hand that was keeping him down. "I can sit up, Steve, you're not my mother. As for the being watched thing, that's not necessary. Jarvis does a good enough job with that."

"I think Steve's right, Tony." Bruce spoke up, adjusting his glasses. "This arc reactor stuff is becoming an issue. A serious issue." Like it wasn't one before. "You can't be Iron Man if your reactor goes out and you end up getting killed midst battle."

"What battle? There are no villains, haven't you noticed? I don't need my suit to be able to stop a robbery; all I need to do is arrive at the scene and Mr. Robber will drop his goodies. That's called the power of Tony Stark, friends. Look it up."

Tony climbed out of bed to Steve, Clint and Bruce's protests. "Shut up, will you? I am completely fine. I'm not gonna die anytime soon."

"Stark, we worry, okay?" Natasha spoke up, brown eyes trained on Tony. "You almost died on us once again. It's too frequent."

Tony went silent at that, but then waved a passing hand. "Yeah, yeah, you all can go now. I've got some important research to do."

Like looking up all this stuff about his ancestors. What were their names again? Oh yeah; Fulla, Gna, Eir, and Hlin. He could barely process the stuff right now. Being part Asgardian. Hmm, maybe he's related to Thor or something.

Tony's fellow Avengers did leave (Steve pestered around for a bit, but an explanation into the mechanics of Tony's arc reactor sent the solider away) and so the man focused on learning more about these four goddesses that he was related to. Perhaps this connection had something to do with his weird arc reactor happenings.

So far, he couldn't find anything that really stuck out. They were just Frigga's followers really. Nothing too special. And then came abnormal event number four.

Once more, a godly hole was added to the architecture plan for his tower. This time though, it was someone Tony had never seen before. It was a woman with beautiful flowing brown hair dressed in a braid, bright and vibrant chocolate brown eyes and a golden yellow dress that would make Pepper jealous.

"Hey there," Tony winked at the woman, who raised an unamused eyebrow.

"Trying to flirt with me, Stark? I wouldn't recommend it."

"Already taken?"

"No, I'm Gna." the man coughed awkwardly, sitting down on the couch. "You're not as princely as I expected though. A little on the short side as well."

"Don't call me short, I'm fun sized."

"Sure you are. Anyway, I did not come here for a simple chat."

"No, I guess not. You're pretty entertaining for a goddess, though. What message do you have for me?" the goddess raised an impressed eyebrow. "Yeah, I do my research."

"Frigga has been informed of your relation to her. If you don't know already, you are of Asgardian blood and serve Frigga just as much as I and my fellow goddesses." Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, no. I don't serve anyone but myself, thank you very much." the man stood from his seat as Gna stepped forward, eyes set on him, "Look, I'm still trying to get over the fact that I'm part god. Four parts goddess to be exact." That last sentence sounded much better in his head. "I don't exactly believe it yet, but with the shit happening with my reactor and the arrival of you, I might just have to."

"Good. I have come here to tell you that Frigga expects you in Asgard by the end of the day."

"What? The end of the day? But, I have work to do on my suit and Pepper and I are supposed to go out for dinner tonight and-"

Gna's voice went steely. It sort of creeped Tony out. "Cancel your plans. The queen of Asgard awaits you."

"How the hell am I supposed to get there? I'm not you!"

"But you have magic."

And one could say that was abnormal event number five (or 4.5 whatever the fuck it is).

Tony blinked and opened his mouth, only to close it again. That sequence occurred three more times before words finally came out of his mouth. "I what? I don't think I heard you correctly, Katniss, but did you say I have magic?"

"Katniss?"

"Ignore that, answer the question!"

Gna rolled her eyes but answered anyway. "Yes, I did say you have magic. All of Asgardian blood have magic."

"I have magic. So, I, like, have Loki's powers?"

"More or less. You are the Midgardian sorcerer." Tony stared at his hands with awe even though there was nothing awesome about them other than the fact they were his. "Remember, Frigga wishes to speak with you tonight. Do not be late."

"Uh, okay," he said distractedly, twisting his hands every which way. "Wow, how do I use it?"

"I'm no expert on magic, being a simple messenger and all, but Loki would tell me when he was young that he hated having to focus on his magic to teleport. I assume the same applies."

"Focus on magic. Okay, but I don't even know what it feels like." the newly discovered sorcerer furrowed his brow. "What does it feel like? Like water? Or money? Or fame?"

"You are truly an idiot."

"I'm not an idiot! How did you come to that conclusion?"

Gna ignored that comment and continued speaking, walking toward Tony at the same time. "Magic is an internal force inside oneself. It is also an external force around oneself. You have to feel the energy around you and inside you and only then will you feel magic."

Okay. Got that.

Tony nodded and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He focused his mind on the energy around him and inside him. The soft purr of his reactor and the heat emitted from his body. The blood rushing through his veins and the buzz of the air around him. A soft hum entered his head, a gentle beautiful hum of a single soul-jerking note that immersed him in warmth. Unfamiliar warmth that chilled him at the same time. It was like getting shocked by electricity but much more safe and welcomed. He could feel every molecule inside and around him, feel each one move and release heat.

_This was energy. This was magic._

It was a glorious feeling Tony enjoyed very much. A little too much to be exact.

"Holy shit," he stuttered, opening his eyes, face bright red with embarrassment as he quickly sat down, hands in his lap. "Uh, that was not supposed to happen."

Gna was avoiding eye contact, a smirk on her lips. "Perhaps you should just call for Heimdall until your magic is under control. He will transport you over."

"Yeah, that would be best." the man chuckled lightly before realizing his chest no longer glowed. He practically jumped out of his seat. "Oh my god, what the-why is this not on? Why am I still alive?"

"Hmm? Oh, well, your reactor blocks magic. I guess that when you access magic, it overpowers your reactor."

"Then how the hell am I still alive? The shrapnel should've gotten to my heart; what is going on?"

"I don't understand it either, Stark." Tony grabbed at his hair, staring down at his unglowing arc reactor with confusion. It flickered blue twice before turning gray with death once more. "Maybe you should get to Frigga immediately. Like, right now."

"Yeah. I guess I should do it before I die." Tony looked up through the new hole in his ceiling with a sigh. "Hey Heimdall," he yelled, Gna shaking her head beside him, "if you can hear me, take me to Asgard."

Abnormal event number six: getting swallowed by a rainbow.

* * *

Ok! So, I'm working on Chapter 8 right now and Chapter 1-7 are posted on deviantART under _loveforlater_ if you want to check it out there! This should be caught up with that in no time. Until next time!~

-Avengirl


	3. The Midgardian Sorcerer

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 3:** _The Midgardian Sorcerer_

Rating: T

Length: 4,687 words

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: Frigga meets the Midgardian Sorcerer and inducts him with one simple job for him to complete.

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Frigga stared at her picture of Loki, sadness consuming her heart. Of course Loki would not agree, but somehow, ending the call with no response was worse than ending it with a curt no. Stark needed someone to teach him magic and Loki was the perfect god to do so. Frigga didn't know why she thought so, but perhaps through teaching Stark, Loki could heal. Magic was always the god's soft spot.

Loki had never taught anyone before. He would probably never want to. It was the one strength he considered himself to have and passing that on to an enemy. . .

The queen grumbled as she stood, turning from her desk simultaneously. Part of her wished she could consult Odin, but no. This was her affair. Stark served her now and he needed to be taught properly in order to do so.

The blonde goddess exited her room quietly. Tonight she would meet Stark and induct him in a way. Also tonight, she planned on somehow getting Loki here as well. Until then, Frigga had to pester her son until he decided to come over.

"Loki," she called through her mind, searching for the prisoner god.

No one replied. Frigga grew quite irritated. She did not want Stark to learn under someone else. No one carried or used magic the way Loki did and she wanted Stark to have the same (or similar) elegance. Loki made magic more beautiful when he used it. He made it something everyone wanted to use. At least when he was younger.

Now the name of magic was sickened and tarnished. Perhaps Stark could bring the good name back. (Or maybe not. After all, this was Tony Stark she was dealing with.)

"Loki, answer me right now. I am not in the mood for your tantrums." Frigga snapped, walking down the empty hall toward the entrance to the palace. Loki still did not reply. "Loki Jokull Odinson, I demand you answer your mother this instant!"

A gasp ran through her as she suddenly felt an internal snap. That cool hum that would echo through her head when contacting Loki turned into a horrible screech of a dying animal. Everything was out of control for a split second. She couldn't see, hear, talk, breathe, do anything.

The queen collapsed to her knees, a hand at her chest. Her heart was pounding in her ears as the gut-wrenching scream quieted down. Her eyes were wet with tears that did not fall and she was shaking on her knees, blonde hair strewn across her sweaty face. Frigga didn't understand what happened. She reached out for Loki again, but felt nothing. There was no source of Loki's magic anymore.

Either Loki died, or he severed the bond. Destroyed their magical bond.

The tears started to fall. At first, they were slow and gentle, trailing down her gorgeous face. It didn't take long for Frigga to start sobbing, salty tears pouring down her face. This was it. Loki was gone to her. She broke his last straw asking him to teach Stark.

"My queen!"

Frigga looked up quickly, spotting her sister Fulla running toward her. The black haired goddess knelt down beside her sister, who was donning a sad watery smile.

"He is gone. I can no longer reach Loki, Fulla." Frigga was surprised at how soft and empty her voice was.

"I told you you should not have agreed to take in a Jotun child as your own." Fulla spat, helping Frigga off the floor. "All he has been is trouble and now look at you. He is killing you without even knowing it."

"Do not speak that way of my son, sister." the queen threatened. Fulla sighed.

"Frigga, he is no longer your son. Loki does no exist anymore." dark blue eyes stared into Frigga's brown ones. "This young man who wanders through the realms an escaped prisoner is merely a ghost of Loki."

"Loki is still there, Fulla, I know it. He may have shut me off for good, but I believe in my son. I believe he can get better."

"I will never understand you on this matter. To me, Loki is long gone. If you want your innocent little boy back, you will have to look back at memories because that is all that exists of him." Frigga scowled at her sister's harsh words. She had gone to Full when Odin returned from Jotunheim with Loki in hand. Fulla had told her no. Told her not to take Loki in because it would all blow up in their faces sooner or later.

Frigga did so anyway and honestly, it was all worth it despite all the harm Loki had caused the family, especially Thor. Fulla was being inconsiderate, but a small part of Frigga that agreed with her sister was getting bigger at the goddess' words.

"I know I will never get my young boy Loki back, not since he is now a grown man." the two sisters walked down the hall, Fulla stiff with her steps. "I do believe he can grow stronger because of this. I do believe he can be redeemed and pulled out of this vicious cycle of hate he has insnared himself in. Loki will never be the same, but I want him to get better. To acknowledge his wrongs and mistakes and learn from them."

Fulla didn't reply to that as they entered Frigga's chambers. The blonde queen reached out for Loki again, once more feeling nothing but emptiness. It was like there was a hole in her magical forces. A hole that contained Loki, his magic trace, the magic connection between the two. It was all gone.

Frigga didn't really realize how fragile their relationship was. Yes, any mention of him returning to Asgard set him off, but she didn't thinking asking him to teach Stark would be the final break. Yes, the two were "enemies", but Loki wanted to teach when he was younger.

Key phrase: when he was younger.

Honestly, there was no reason for Loki to say yes. Why would he teach hi ways of magic to his former enemy? In fact, there was no advantage for Loki by teaching Stark. ALl it was really was a chance at redemption from Frigga this time, not Odin. Did that not change things? Make Loki want to do it since Frigga wanted him to? If Loki even wanted to be redeemed. To bet "better".

"Do not get strung up over this Frigga. Loki will return to his more innocent ways when he wishes to and when his tantrum is done." Oh, if Frigga could get a dime each time she heard someone say that.

"I asked him to teach magic."

"What?" Fulla narrowed her blue eyes at Frigga, who smiled softly. "Teach magic? You know how different his view and take on magic is! Why would you ask him to spread it?"

Fulla really disliked Loki.

"I asked him to teach Stark. Anthony Stark, the Midgardian Sorcerer." Fulla's eyebrows raised at Frigga's words. "I know I usually ask you for your opinion on topics before I make my decisions, but this one, not so."

"No wonder why he severed his connection with you. What were you thinking asking him to teach magic to the Midgardian Sorcerer?"

"Loki's view of magic is unique and deserves to be passed on whether or not you believe the same. Stark know nothing of magic-"

"Which means he should learn from a true master!" Frigga grit her teeth with constrained anger. (Now she recalled why the thought never entered her head to ask Fulla first.) "Loki does not-"

_"I do not care, Fulla!"_

Fulla backed off, eyes wide with shock. Her hands were balled into fists as Frigga glared her down, golden magic swirling around the queen. Frigga took a deep breath, closing her eyes as her magic calmed down and melted into the energy around and inside her. "This is my offer for Loki at redemption. Magic is his love, his strength. If he is willing to teach, then he is willing to open up and forgive."

"And if he is not?"

"Then I have nothing left for him." Frigga sat down on her bed, exhausted and annoyed. "If Loki will not teach Stark, then someone else will. Most likely me."

Frigga didn't want to teach Stark. She really wanted Loki to do so. Her style of magic was old fashioned and traditional while Loki's was more unique and modern. It was more suitable for this new day and age. She also wanted to believe in Loki and the possibility of his redemption. The destruction of their magical bond made all hope of Loki saying yes improbable, but not impossible. Loki would come to Frigga himself if he were to change his mind or ask questions.

"Frigga, my queen," the called goddess turned to find Gna and a short bearded mortal in the doorway. "Fulla, you are here as well. I am sorry to interrupt, but I have brought the Midgardian Sorcerer."

"Ooh, I have a fancy title of Midgardian Sorcerer up here!" Stark grinned, arms crossed against his chest. "Hello Frigga. It's nice to meet you. Ah, you pretty lady over there must be Fulla. I see the resemblance, even with the black hair. You two are definitely sisters."

"Stark," Frigga nodded toward the man, "you have come early."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Gna here told me you wished to see me before the day is done, so here I am." the male brunette shrugged as he sat down. "Plus, I'm supposed to be dead right now. Can you explain why I'm not?"

"Dead?" Confusion overrode Frigga's facial features. Stark "oh"ed with realization and proceeded to remove his shirt. "No, Stark, there is no need to removed your clothing. You are fine without-"

"No worries, Goldilocks. I just want to show you a little something." Stark winked before completely removing his shirt. Frigga averted her gaze with a cough and Fulla took in a sharp breath with an "ooh" as Gna shook her head with a sigh. "You can now feast your eyes on the beauty that is my chest. Feel free to check out my abs or the dead arc reactor that should have killed me. Your choice."

Frigga turned to Stark at his words, eyes narrowed at the gray reactor in the man's chest. Didn't Loki mention something about the reactor being blue like the Tesseract?

"When did it die out?" she asked, walking toward the man.

"Oh, just a few minutes ago or so, but these past months since the invasion, it's been shutting on and off." the mortal raised an eyebrow as Frigga tapped at the device. "It's basically a magnet that keeps shrapnel from my heart. It also powers my Iron Man suit."

The queen closed her eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on the energy around her. She could feel a buzz near Stark, an uncontrolled energetic buzz that wanted to burst from its container. Frigga opened her eyes with a slight frown, placing her palm on Stark's reactor. She focused on the hum of her own magic, watching her hand gently glow gold. Magic was attracted to magic, so Stark's magic should break out and be useable whereas before, it was just unlocked and uncontrolled.

Stark took in a sharp breath at that, mouth slightly open as he stared down at Frigga. Frigga could feel Stark's magic beneath his reactor, buzzing ferociously as it reached the surface of his body, his skin. The reactor started to glow white and Stark winced slightly. Frigga pulled away with a smile, standing up with crossed arms.

"What the fuck did you just do, excuse my language." the man was in awe as he pressed his fingers to his glowing arc reactor. "This is amazing, oh my god."

"Your magic has nulled the magnetic and energy properties of the reactor. It has taken the role of the reactor and it now keeps the shrapnel from your heart."

"Does the reactor still carry energy? I mean, it powers my suit. I sort of need the reactor to work in order for the Iron Man suit to work."

"Your arc reactor no longer carries its original energy. Your magic has exterminated it." Stark paled slightly. "It now carries your magic inside. It is a storage container for it."

"Like a battery." Frigga nodded, pleased with Stark's obvious glee. "This is amazing. Do you think I could power my suit with my magic? After all, magic is just a different form of energy."

"I assume you can then." Stark's face lit up like a baby at that. "Right now, your magic is white as is all newly awakened magic. Once it settles into your body, it will change to the color that suits you."

"That suits me?"

"That represents you. Gold is for royalty, red is for strength, green is for intelligence and magic. This applies to Aesir magic."

"There are different types of magic? Like different types of kung-fu."

Frigga did not understand what Stark meant, but she nodded anyway. "Yes, there is Aesir magic and seithr, or Vanir, magic. Like your science, there are different fields within these two types of magic. Medical magic, combat magic, shapeshifting magic, war magic, fertility magic, seer magic, valkyrie magic and much more."

"Damn. That's a lot of magic."

"Yes. Seithr magic has a few fields specific to it, as does Aesir magic. War magic is only applicable with Aesir magic. Fertility magic is only applicable with seithr magic." the queen sat down beside the in awe mortal. "I called for you today to tell you that you serve me now. You carry the blood of my four goddesses, so you work for me."

"Yeah, about that," Stark slipped on his shirt with a frown, "I don't work for anyone. I'm my own man. I have people down on Earth waiting for me. I can't live up here like Thor does. Earth's my home."

"I never said you had to live here in Asgard among us. Fulla is my sister and confident, Eir is a valkryie who helps me by deciding who lives during a battle."

"Wait. How does that help you?"

"You have heard of Vahalla, correct?" Stark nodded. "I rule over Folkvang."

"Folkvang?"

"Half of those who die heroically in battle go to Folkvang, my hall of the viking dead. The other half go to Vahalla, Odin's hall of the viking dead." Frigga perked slightly at a sound. "Is someone there? Hmm, perhaps not. As I was saying, Gna is my messenger and Hlin is almost exactly like myself."

"What do you mean?"

"We are basically blood sisters. She took care of Thor and Loki at times when I was busy."

"Yeah, and? What are you trying to say by telling me what the four goddesses do for you?"

"You are the Midgardian Sorcerer and you will simply do one thing for me as do my goddesses do one thing for me." Stark raised an eyebrow. "I have not heard of any attacks from Amora or any other villains around the realms. Thor is busy looking for his brother, so I want you to figure out where these villains are and to protect Midgard from them with your magic."

Before Tony could reply, the doors to Frigga's chambers opened and two women walked in. One was dressed in viking wear, horned helmet in hand as ponytailed blonde hair flowed with her movements. Her bangs were plastered to her head with sweat as she scanned the room with lilac purple eyes. The other one had russet brown hair and vibrant red eyes, dressed in a white gown that ended at her ankles, feet bare on the cold tile floor.

"Eir and Hlin. I assume you have finished visiting the battle." Frigga stood as Eir tossed her helmet to the side, undoing her ponytail. Stark stared at her with wide eyes, quite entranced.

"Yes, I have." the blonde valkyrie sighed heavily, "I have sent half of them to you, so I recommend giving them a hello." her lilac eyes turned to Stark. "I feel magic from this mortal. Is this the Midgardian Sorcerer?"

"How do you all know I'm the Midgardian Sorcerer? Have you been waiting for my magic to be unlocked or something?"

"The volva of Helheim have predicted the arrival of a Midgardian sorcerer to help stop the upcoming apocalyptic battle also known as Ragnarok." Hlin replied softly. "You yourself were not named specifically, but with so much Asgardian blood within you, you were a prospect."

"Are there other people with Asgardian blood?" Frigga nodded. "But I have enough to unlock magic. Damn, I just keep getting more special everyday." the mortal laughed lightly. "So, I get the basis of Ragnarok and even though I don't work for people, I'll gladly work under your name to help stop Ragnarok. Wait, is Baldr dead? Did Loki kill him already?"

"In a way. Baldr died of grief after learning of Loki's supposed death. They were the closest after all." Frigga's voice was laced with sorrow. "The villains have fallen off the radar and this also brings suspect to Ragnarok occurring soon. Now, your magic had been awakened by Ginnungagap and Ragnarok is most definitely going to occur."

"Oh." Stark sat back in his chair, a thinking face on. "Well then. If I'm going to help stop Ragnarok or something, I'm gonna need a teacher-wait. Ragnarok can not be stopped. Isn't it inevitable?"

"If it is, then why have the volva predicted a Midgardian sorcerer to stop it?" Stark had no answer to that. "Before you mention it, I want you to know that if Loki has not changed his ways by then, you will face him again."

In fact (although Frigga would never mention this to Stark), the volva said there would be a battle between two powerful sorcerers midst Ragnarok. One reason why she wanted Loki to teach Tony. Perhaps the prophecy was not speaking of a battle between the Midgardian Sorcerer (Stark) and Loki. Maybe it was Stark against Amora. Still, Frigga wanted to make sure Loki was on the Asgardian's side of the battle.

"That's fine. I know he's you son and all, no offense, but I want to kick his ass for tossing me out that window." Stark crossed his arms as Eir snorted from the other side of the room. "Hey, he tried to take over my planet and last I heard, that's a no-no. He deserves to pay for that big time, especially since he's broken out of prison and Thor can't find him 'cause their magical connection thingy is broken. Jackass. Hey wait, can you find him with a magical connection thingy?"

Frigga's eyes burned with unshed tears, but she wouldn't let them fall. The sound of the scream echoed in her ears as if it was happening all over again. "Until today, Loki and I were very much in contact. He would not tell me where he was, but we did talk. Our bond has been destroyed now though, so I can no longer contact him."

_"Mother!"_

At the sound of that familiar voice, Frigga turned to the doors of her chambers, finding a frantic wide-eyed Loki in the doorway. The tears started to fall as she ran toward her estranged son, Loki running toward her as well. He held her close with a muffled sound as she embraced him, sobbing into his armor.

"Loki," she choked out, pulling away to grab his tear-stained face, "I thought you had died. Or even worse . . ."

"No, no, I am not dead." he replied, a small smile on his face. "I am very much alive. I came here to make sure you are alright. I heard a horrible screech and-"

"I know, I know, I felt it too." Frigga smiled widely, caught in the sparkle of the god's green eyes. He felt different. He looked the same (longer hair than she recalled), but when she touched him, she couldn't feel his magic. He felt mortal in a way. "Loki, what has happened to your magic? I no longer feel it."

"Oh yes, well, I-"

_"THOR! YOU TOLD ME TO TELL YOU WHEN YOUR BROTHER IS FOUND! I FOUND HIM!"_

Loki literally pushed Frigga out of the way and snarled, glaring at Stark, who was out of his chair, hands poised to punch. The god's magic suddenly flared around him, green swirling before the group. Frigga concentrated on the feeling of the magic. It felt very different. More calmed and relaxed. Her heart leapt with joy.

Was this it? Had Loki finally changed?

"I thought I told you no," Loki hissed, turning on Frigga with mad eyes, "Why is this mortal man in your chambers?"

"Unlike you, you prick, I was fucking invited!" Frigga sighed as Loki turned back to Stark, walking to the man. "I don't need my suit to give you the ass kicking you deserve."

"Oh really? I'd like to see it then, Stark." the two men were face to face, Stark looking up at the smirking Loki. "You are the Midgardian Sorcerer after all."

"Fuck you!"

Frigga reached out with horror as Tony swung his arm and slapped Loki across the face. Loki's head flew right and at contact, there was a spark of white. A carnal smile crawled onto Loki's lips and Stark himself had a moment of fear in his brown eyes and body language.

"Ah, I see," a crazed laugh spilled from Loki's lips and bled through the room. "I will enjoy killing you, Stark."

"Bring it on, bitch. It's your time to die."

_"Stop!"_

Both Loki and Tony turned toward the four goddesses who had yelled. Frigga stepped toward the two, anger in her blazing brown eyes. "There is no need for you to fight. I understand you two have your issues, but do not fight!"

"When do I get a teacher so I can learn what I need in order to defeat this guy?" Stark jabbed a thumb in Loki's direction, which obviously angered the god as his green magic flared once more.

"What a coincidence that Loki has come." Stark wrinkled his nose in confusion and Loki's eyes went wide with horror. "I will have Loki be your teacher."

"No." Stark shook his head quickly, making the hand and arm motions as well. "There is no way possible I will learn magic from Loki."

"See? Not even the mortal wants it." Fulla tagged on (which earned a glare from Frigga).

"Frigga, is it a good idea to have Loki teach Stark?" Eir spoke up.

"I never said I would teach the fool, Eir," the black-haired god exclaimed, glaring into Eir's lilac eyes, "I came here for one reason and that was to find out why I could no longer feel Frigga's magic."

Oh, why couldn't Loki just keep calling her mother? Why did he revert back to her first name?

"Also," Loki continued, turning to Frigga with anger, "I will not teach Stark. It is an absurd idea that will not be executed. I can not teach my enemy."

"Why not? Loki, when you were younger, you told me you wished to teach. To spread the love of magic throughout the realms."

"Loki the pilgrim," Stark snorted. Loki glared at him. "No wait, I got it. Loki the Jahovah's Witness."

That got to Loki for the god lunged for Stark, who jumped away with a chuckle, smirking at the angry god. Frigga watched the interaction between the two and noticed something odd. Every so often, she saw Stark's white arc reactor darken to a barely noticeable paper white pale green. She barely noticed it herself as her son and Stark were arguing, but locking eyes with Hlin and Gna confirmed her suspicions.

Loki had to teach Stark, there was no doubt about it. Loki's magic was making Stark's stronger and more controlled. It also meant that Stark's magic was similar to Loki's magic and fed off it. Their magic was connected. Tied together through mystical forces. If so, then Stark needed to learn the way Loki used magic in order to get the most out of his use of it. This wasn't just about giving Loki another chance.

Now, it was about making Stark the best sorcerer he could be before Ragnarok.

"Loki, please," she whispered, staring at the angry yelling god. Loki turned at that, a hard set unhappy glare on his face, "Teach Stark. It is necessary for you to do so."

"And why is that?"

"You compliment his magic."

Loki turned to Stark with a raised eyebrow and Stark put on a disgusted face. They stepped away from each other with obvious dislike and horror. Well, that approach didn't work. Seems like "The Look" will have to come into play.

"Listen to me, Loki," Frigga started softly and warmly, putting a hand on her son's shoulder. He turned to her, unamused and still on edge. The queen narrowed her eyes slightly, not enough to glare, and stared Loki down. "If magic is your love, then I need you to teach it to Stark. This is not about you anymore, understand? Teach Stark your way of magic, Loki."

She smiled softly at Loki, cocking her head to the side gently like he was a child. Her eyes went soft with childish hope and the look on her face oozed "please say yes" as Loki blinked, a frown marring his features. His lips were pulled in a straight line and he was obviously a little fidgety. Frigga pulled her hand away with a disappointed sigh and a chilling sad smile and turned her back to Loki, walking back to the other goddesses.

"Of course you won't say yes." she said coldly, back still facing the black-haired god. "I understand now, Loki."

"Understand what?" Stark whispered, feeling a bit intrusive.

_Wait for it . . ._

"Fine."

She turned around with a joyful smile, eyes wide with glee. The look of utter disappointment after glorious hope filled with that motherly "I love you" voice always won Thor, Loki, and sometimes Odin, over. The three of them had that in common (never tell Loki): disappointing Frigga was not a good feeling and neither was arguing with her after hearing that voice.

There was another voice she could use, her more angry and commanding one, but she would save that for another day when it was more needed. That voice usually upset Loki even more and honestly, she was tired of hearing Loki's yelling.

"Wait, what?" Stark exclaimed, turning to Loki with horror. "Did you just say you're going to teach me?"

"Yes, I did, Stark," Loki grumbled in reply, rolling his eyes, "Do not ask why, just face the fact that I am your teacher now. After all, if I am your teacher, then you will learn how to defeat me. Isn't that what you said you wanted?"

Stark rubbed at his chin with interest and then nodded as if that was his plan all along or something. Fulla raised her eyebrows, Eir and Hlin smirked, and Gna shook her head with laughter.

Finally, the deal was made. Loki had a pupil, Stark would gain control of his magic, and Ragnarok would be stopped.

Now, Frigga just had to make sure Loki didn't agree so he could kill Stark. In her head, that didn't seem to be to low a crime for Loki to commit.

* * *

So, Loki's going to teach Tony after all. Good news all around it seems. Next up? The First Lesson! Don't forget to review and all :D

-Avengirl


	4. First Lesson

**ImBusyPlanningGlobalDomination:** I'm truly glad you like the story so far! I enjoy writing it a ton, so it's always nice to know someone out there likes reading it and wants more :3

* * *

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 4:** _First Lesson_

Rating: T

Length: 3,527 words

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: Tony learns more about magic, including some interesting facts about his own.

* * *

"Hey! Wait up, you!" Tony called, running after Loki, who had left the room shortly after agreeing to teach Tony. "Why the hell did you suddenly say yes?"

"It is none of your business, Stark," Loki snapped, still storming away down the palace halls. Tony quickly wondered if Loki would be caught walking here without a disguise.

"I think it is my business, Loki." his stern voice made Loki stop and turn toward him. "You're my teacher now and I deserve to know why."

"You feel that you need to know the answer, that you deserve it?" the god's voice was harsh and bitter. "Oh, I can tell you the answer to why I burdened myself with teaching you, but that does not mean I will and that does not mean I believe you deserve any answer other than the fact that I had to."

"You had to say yes?" Tony raised an unamused eyebrow as they stood a mere two feet apart from each other in the abandoned hallway. "Can't you just tell me? We're gonna have to spend a lot of time together you know."

"I know already," Loki's green eyes turned to the floor before staring into Tony's brown ones, "but I would rather see your smug face than Frigga's disappointed one."

"Oh."

Tony completely understood that. He hated when he'd do something that disappointed his mother. The look in her eyes and the sad frown hurt much more than her scolding. Even worse was when Howard looked disappointed at Tony. He much preferred Howard's scolding and being ignored to Howard's disappointment.

Loki turned on his heel and continued on his way, Tony jogging to catch up to him (stupid long legs). They walked side by side in silence, Loki's face determined and unchanging. Tony's face was full of awe and wonder at the castle before them.

"So, how is the teaching schedule going to work out? I've got stuff to do back on Earth."

Loki turned down at Tony before turning a corner. "We will have the first lesson today. Lessons will occur whenever you have the time. I myself am a busy man."

"What, busy congregating with all those other villains?" Loki's face crinkled with confusion at that. "Oh, you weren't invited? So, you're more of an anti-hero, I see."

Loki ignored that last comment with a frown. "All the villains are in hiding?" Tony nodded and almost rammed into Loki's back as the god stopped walking. "Interesting." the god turned to the shorter man with sharp eyes. "You know just as well as I that I am not welcome here. Our lessons can not occur in Asgard."

"So, what, we're going to your secret witch cave out in the middle of nowhere?" That earned him a glare.

"No, caves are not for me, not since-" the green-eyed god cut himself off quickly, gritting his teeth. "I do not trust you one bit, Stark."

"Good. I don't trust you and I doubt I'll have any reason to."

"That is where you are wrong." those green eyes became hard with concern as they stared Tony down. (The look made Tony feel small and tiny.) "You need to trust what I say in order for you to learn magic. No matter what I ask you to do, do it. It is obvious our previous issues can not interfere with my teaching. Stark, I know you are not ready for this, and neither am I, but I need you to forgive me."

"What?" Tony yelled, eyes wide with horror. "No, no, no, that will never happen. Never. I can not forgive you for killing Coulson, for destroying my tower, for invading my home town, my planet. That is a pretty unforgivable act, Loki."

"I know," Loki snarled, eyes now hard with anger, "but you need to forget about it. I know it will be hard, but if you are to learn magic, your association with it can not be negative and influenced by your teacher. This is not a rule that applies to me, it applies to all teachings of magic throughout the realms."

"I can't just forget about it!"

"By Odin's beard, just do it!"

"I'll never forget about it, Loki, nothing will change that!"

"Damn it, Stark, I need you to say it." Loki's voice was soft and urgent. Tony noticed then that Loki's eyes were flickering left and right, looking for people who might be eavesdropping or peeking in.

"I can't forget it, but I'll forgive you slightly for now." Tony grumbled, crossing his arms angrily. "I only say that because I need to learn magic to stop Ragnarok and you're the best teacher for me or something."

"Give me your hand," Loki almost pleaded. The god's eyes were trained to the right.

Tony perked a bit, focusing on the sensory input of his ears to hear slight conversation nearby. He stuck out his hand and Loki grabbed it, kissing his three fingers between pinky and thumb.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" he screeched, pulling his hand away. No way was he letting his brain recall the feeling of those lips on his fingers. Nope. Not at all.

Feel that heat in his cheeks? That was so not blush, nope, it was anger. Yup. Definitely.

Ask no questions, tell no lies. Tony was not blushing and his mind was not repeating that fleeting kiss.

"It is necessary, Stark; do not test my patience." Loki grabbed his hand once more and pressed the mortal's hand to Loki's chest. Tony could feel the god's heartbeat beneath his palm. It was oddly soothing. "Tell me you forgive me."

"I forgive you enough to trust you as my teacher, which is honestly as far as I can throw you, so don't get your hopes up, Sensei."

Green magic spilled from Loki's fingers, which had a hold on Tony's wrist. The green magic swirled its way around Tony's arm and up Loki's as well, giving their arms an earthly green glow. Loki's lips were moving slightly, utter words Tony didn't understand at first. Loki's magic tickled his arm a bit as the man focused on the buzz from it.

Wow.

It was beautiful.

A gentle melodic hum rang through his ears as he felt his white magic move on its own accord. His hand started to glow white and Tony's jaw dropped as he felt the energy around him change. He focused on this change within and around himself, listening to the canon melodies that sung in his head.

Loki's eyes narrowed where Tony and he made contact before the god pulled Tony's hand away. The brunette held his hand to his chest suspiciously and then yelped as Loki grabbed his shoulders.

"That was bonding magic."

"Bonding magic?"

"Yes. Like how Thor and I used to have a brother bond and Frigga and I used to have a magic one." green eyes stared down at Tony with intensity. "I have created a basic trust bond of magic between the two of us. Frigga was correct, my magic calms yours down and fuels it."

"What is a trust bond? For you info, I know zilch about magic."

"Zilch?"

"Nothing. I know nothing about magic."

"A trust bond is a crude family bond between magic users and/or teacher and student. It is a contract that basically says one trusts the other and vice versa. Teachers and students need it for the law and academic and protectional purposes. Sorcerers use it to form loose relationships based on fragile trust. It is more of a simple magic contract than an actual bond."

"So, can we, like, mind talk like what Frigga and you do?"

"No. This is a teacher-student trust bond. If the bond ever gets closer and more trust is formed, then perhaps so. I have yet to hear of a teacher-student trust bond that allows connection straight to ones magical forces though."

"Oh, well then, that'll never happen." Tony snorted and then stiffened as he heard footsteps. "Uh, I think we should-gah!"

Tony was pulled into Loki's chest and before he knew it, everything went black.

All he could feel was heat and energy all around him. A rainbow of colors and chords of music. Every single note was heart-wrenching and every color sent floods of emotions through him. Every single atom of his body was on fire, in a good way. Green consumed his vision and the melody he had heard from Loki's magic started to play.

Ground met his feet and Tony was immediately yanked from whatever had just happened and found himself in some sort of house. It was all old-fashioned, straw and wood and all that. Turning, he found Loki on a bed, a black dog at his feet wagging its tail. Turning once more, he spotted a fireplace and a wooden dresser. A coat rack and a rug. A few lit candles and a lantern.

"Is this. . ." Tony turned to face Loki, who was petting the dog's head. "Loki, do you live here?"

"Indeed I do." the god stood up and so did the dog. "You and your fellow Avengers thought I had left and gone through the realms terrorizing people. How foolish."

"Dude, you took me to your home! Your house!" the brunette spun in a circle a couple times. "Why here? Why not someplace else?"

"I am safe here."

"Not anymore. You're showing your enemy home base, Loki."

"A trust bond goes both ways. There is a reason why I created it before teleporting us here."

"Oh." realization hit Tony like a brick to the head. "I get it. I trust you enough to teach me and you trust me enough to show me your living quarters. Then, what about Frigga? How come you never let her in on your true whereabouts?"

"I did not want to hurt her." the god walked to the fireplace and waved his hand, flames of golden hot fire bursting in the set wood.

"Whoa, what spell is that? I need to learn it."

"It is not a spell." Loki's eyes darkened as he stared at the fire, which flickered bright shades of orange, red, and yellow. The flames licked the air around them, consuming yet releasing warming heat. "I am the god of fire. This is a part of me. I need no spell for it."

"But how is a fire god also a frost gian-"

Loki turned to Tony with a death glare, green eyes narrowed with anger. The fire was slightly reflected in his eyes, which sort of frightened Tony more. "Do not mention that, Stark. I am the embodiment of fire and trickery and nothing else matters."

Red-orange flames flickered dangerously at Loki's words. Tony dropped the subject and turned to the dog on the bed. "Who's that? She looks like a dog version of you."

"That is Kyna. We carry an animal bond, I do believe. I have yet to analyze it."

"An animal bond?"

"Yes, a magical bond between two animals or between an animal and its companion." Loki's eyes softened as he turned to Kyna, who ran to the god excitedly. "She followed me shortly after my arrival here and has been with me ever since."

"Is it like a trust bond?"

"Stronger. We are tied through emotion as well, not just trust. Animal bonds usually develop naturally since most animals can not use or carry magic."

"Wait, how does it develop naturally if the dog doesn't have magic?"

"We live in a world full of magic. Everyone has it, but not everyone has the power to use it."

"So, I have the power?"

"And the blood."

Kyna trotted over to Tony with curiosity. She looked up at him with big green eyes as she sat down, head cocked to the side. Tony smiled down at her and Kyna like grinned or something and started licking his hand.

"I think she likes me."

"She probably senses my magic all over you."

"Is this a magic scent dog? Like a scent hound, but for magic? If so, that's fucking awesome."

Loki laughed tiredly. "I actually do not know, nor do I care. I only suspect she sense my magic because of our bond and because she is used to the feeling of my magic trace."

"Speaking of magic traces, why couldn't Frigga feel yours? She told me you broke the bond."

"I may have been angry at her for her proposition, but not enough to cut off our bond." the tired looking god's eyes slid half closed as he reached out toward the golden fire. "I know not what happened."

"Okay then. So, why'd you come here? Besides this being the only place you're safe. Actually, where are we?"

"Vanaheim, land of the Vanir gods. Home of seithr magic."

"Frigga briefly mentioned that to me. Aesir magic and seithr magic aren't the only two though, right?"

"Correct. There is Jotun magic, Elven magic, and Muspell magic as well. No Asgardian has learned these magics but Odin, hence being called the Allfather."

"But you're Jotun and so you can use Jotun magic too, right?" the killer death stare Tony received silenced him. "Right. Don't talk about Jotunheim related stuff."

"I plan on having all of your lessons here in my house. Here, my name is Hyrr-"

"Fire. That means fire in English." the black haired god nodded.

"Yes, it does. Nevertheless, I will teach you in here and here only. This must be kept secret."

"Oh, it's gonna be secret. I do not want anyone to know I use magic because then I'll have to tell them you're teaching me and then they'll try to kill you and then I won't have a teacher so then Ragnarok occurs and yeah. Not good."

"I am glad you understand."

Loki threw Tony a quick smile, which Tony returned with ease. Tony then realized he was fraternizing with the enemy. He was actually having a non threatening conversation with the man who almost killed him. It had to be the bond magic, but Loki said it was weak and only used for the law and stuff. So, Tony actually liked talking to the guy. He actually felt comfortable and relaxed near him.

Honestly, the brunette wasn't sure how to take that realization.

"What's the first lesson?" the newly discovered sorcerer asked to end the calming silence. "You do have a lesson plan, right?"

"First you need to learn to control your magic. You obviously have no control since you know not what to control or how to do so."

"I know how to focus on my magic. Gna taught me that. She said to focus on the energy around and inside me in order to feel and focus on my magic." Loki furrowed his brow. "What? Is that not it?"

"No, that is correct. Demonstrate it for me."

Tony closed his eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating on the energy around and inside him. He could feel the power and the force within him as that hum he first heard earlier with Gna entered his head. The buzzing inside him increased as he focused on the energy outside of him. Tony tried his best to feel that energy and let it mingle with the power emitting from his skin. It was a glorious feeling he felt, sensing the power around him and the force behind it.

The brunette focused on the heat of the energy around him, reaching out to feel it and let the heat from his body alter it. Change it into something new. The man opened his eyes and found a spark of white on his fingertips, glowing white like pure snow or freshly produced paper.

"You did it,"

Tony practically screamed at that voice, his wisp of magic extinguishing quickly. When he turned, he was face to face with Loki and oh god, that was not good because that scare sent him off balance and now-ugh, not again. (Wasn't Gna bad enough?)

"Uh, excuse me," Tony coughed as he tiptoed toward the bed and sat down, placing the blanket on his lap. "Ah, quick question. Am I supposed to get hard doing this?"

"What?" Loki replied, a little red at the cheeks, "No, not that I know of. I was young and incapable of such a thing when I first learned magic. I do know that imbalance of power causes reactions. I usually end up with a changed appearance."

"What are you trying to say?" brown eyes narrowed at a smirking Loki, "Are you saying I have sex magic?"

"Oh no, Freya has that under her belt. I suspect the color of your magic will be blue."

"Blue? Like my arc reactor and the Tesseract?"

"Yes. Blue stands for power in Asgard. Vast immense power."

Tony raised both his eyebrows. "And how did you come to that conclusion?"

"You have enough power, energy and heat within and around you to give yourself a sexual reaction." Hot red blush and embarrassment flooded Tony's cheeks against his will as Loki started laughing.

This laugh was different than Tony expected. It was bright, cheerful and genuine. It rang through the house and Tony found out first hand Loki had one of those laughs where you smile, laugh as well, or just feel a bundle of warmth in your tummy hearing it. There wasn't an ounce of cynicism, madness, or I-want-to-kill-you to it. Tony kind of liked it.

(Don't tell anyone he thought that.)

"So? At least I don't go around changing my appearance when I lose control."

"I actually spit fire now if I lose control. Not pleasant at all. I will never understand how dragons do it."

For some reason, an odd questioned popped in Tony's head right then and there. "Since you've been in Vanaheim for who knows how long, do you know seithr magic?"

Before Loki could answer, a knock came from the front door. Loki snapped his fingers and in a wave of green, he was a red headed shorter version of himself with curly short hair and blue eyes. The god left the room and Tony sat on the bed awkwardly, Kyna staring at him.

"Hey there, Kyna. That's a pretty name, you know." the dog ran to his side, jumping onto the bed eagerly. "Loki's taken good care of you I assume. I don't know why you've got that emotional magic bond with him though. I wouldn't do that if I were you. I've heard all his feels can send an army of girls into sobs. Just warning you."

Kyna licked his cheek a few times for that. "Aww, stop being so sweet; you're gonna make me want to take you with me back home."

The black dog cocked her head right, tail wagging enthusiastically. Tony raised an eyebrow but said no more. Loki came back in and slammed the door behind him.

"Do it again. Focus on your magic and bring it out into the open." the god snapped, green eyes glaring at Tony. "Do not sit there looking like the idiot you are! Get up and practice!"

"What happened? You're all back to suck-it-you-prick Loki." the man stood up as the fire god turned toward his element. "I'll do it, but you have to teach me self control. I'd rather not have a sexual reaction to real power."

"Just do as I say, Stark, and you will learn self-control."

Loki's voice was bitter and cold. Tony scowled, but focused once more, trying not to get so into his magic and the feeling behind it. He focused on the force and power, ignoring all possible gooey erotic feelings. He paid close attention to the raw force and strength and energy magic contained. He didn't go completely hard, but hey, that was progress.

"Okay, I've got a spark. Now what?"

"Extinguish it and repeat." the raven-haired prince was still staring into the fire.

"What does that have to do with-"

"I said do as I say and trust me with it!" the god yelled, turning to Tony with obvious held back anger. "I will be back; I-"

"No, wait."

Loki looked at the hand on his shoulder before locking eyes with the shorter man. Tony stared into his eyes, watching green seep into those ocean blue orbs and green darken and straighten that curly red hair. Green gave Loki his proper height and danced across his skin as the magic dispersed.

"Stark," he growled, green eyes full of pent up emotion, "What are you-"

"Why are you angry?" Loki's face hardened. "You can't teach properly if you're pissy. Is it your time of the month?"

"Stark, you should stick to your own personal business such as repeating the exercise I gave you."

Tony didn't reply and Loki gently shoved him off before exciting the room. The mortal sorcerer frowned. Something set Loki off and he really needed to know why.

That would have to wait though because boy, did Tony not want to have a hard on during a battle. Wouldn't that just be embarrassing.

Repetition of the exercise, here Tony comes.

* * *

Chapter four done! The next few chapters get longer, I think on average each chapter after this one is around 6K. Anyway, next up is more magic and Tony/Loki interaction. Until then, my readers!


	5. That Escalated Quickly

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 5:** _That Escalated Quickly_

Rating: T

Length: 6,085 words

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: Tony continues to expand his knowledge of magic and learns more about Loki in the process.

* * *

Loki returned after Tony made six white sparks. The god simply nodded and teleported Tony to the Bifrost and then Heimdall once more liked to see Stark Tower as the tower of swiss cheese and added another hole to the mix to transport Tony.

"Damn," the brunette groaned, a hand at his head. The Bifrost mode of travel was not fun. No wonder why Loki used his teleportation magic all the time. "Hey Jarvis, how long have I been gone?"

"Around three hours, sir. I told Pepper you had gone out for a walk." Tony nodded as he sat down, closing his eyes as he sighed.

"Cool. I've got a magic teacher now and I'm supposed to go visit him whenever I get the chance." a yawn escaped his lips. "Ugh, I hate being so elementary at a task. Why is magic so draining?"

"Sir, your arc reactor."

"What?" Tony looked down his shirt at the glowing device. "Oh, yeah, it's white now until my magic settles down into my body. Apparently, my magic is supposed to be blue, which means vast and immense power up in Asgard, but I don't know. I sort of want gold, but that's royalty. I wonder what purple is. Ha, purple magic."

Tony climbed off the couch and strolled down the hall to his lab. While walking, Tony created a few sparks of magic, humming lightly with his steps. He didn't realize what he was humming exactly until he entered his lab and when the realization struck him, he banged his head against the nearest wall with frustration.

Out of all the melodies in the universe, his brain had to make him sing the melody of Loki's magic. A soft smiled formed though at the thought. Tony found it interesting how magic, music and color were connected. Loki's magic radiated intricate polyrhythmic melodies while his own magic was a soft-toned hum. Loki's magic was an interesting multi-shaded color of green while Tony's magic was a simply glowing white.

He shook his head with a sigh, ridding his mind of Loki. Sheesh, what was up with that god? Who was at the door? Tony thanked, yet inwardly cursed who ever was at the door. He thanked them for interrupting their bonding session. Like whoa, Tony only needed Loki for learning magic. He wasn't gonna be the psycho's friend. On the other hand, he cursed the person for ruining the good mood and vibe of the lesson. Pissed off Loki was not a good teacher or listener.

Tony turned to his latest suit, a red and gold colored one similar to Mark VII. He was thinking of designing a silver one that would be slimmer and fit better on his short frame. If his magic was indeed blue, the suit and arc reactor would be more color coordinated.

Still, Tony wanted his classic red and gold he'd grown so close to. Either way, he would have to design a new suit that would be powered by the magic in the arc reactor rather than the energy of the magnet. It would need some serious calculations and evaluation, but since Tony could conjure magic himself, it shouldn't have to take too long and only a few hours at most.

Three hours later, Tony had finally developed a rough draft of how to power his suit via magic. Since magic was the energy around and inside him, the suit had to absorb the energy around itself as heat. The Iron Man suit would get hot quickly, but while using magic, Tony focused on the energy around inside and around him. Contained in the suit, the only energy around him was the heat the suit carried. By manipulating the power and focusing on the force, he could conjure magic and use it for his repulsers.

The magic inside his arc reactor was pure energy, so he just needed to set his suit to respond to the heat/energy frequencies magic emitted. Simply by feeling magic, the Iron Man suit could awaken and become ready for use. Still, there were a few holes in his solution caused by lack of knowledge. How did one track a magic trace? What was a magic trace anyway? Any old magic couldn't power his suit, it needed to respond to his and his only. Did different types of magic emit different types of energy frequencies? And if so, then did different individuals carry different frequencies?

The man groaned aloud, tossing some papers and a tablet to the side. He would ask Loki the next time they met. Right now, he needed some food and water. Anything to take his mind off his suit and magic.

"There you are!"

Tony turned with a smile as Pepper entered the lab, papers in hand. He gave her a kiss on the cheek once she approached and took the papers from her hands, flipping through them with a hum.

"How did your walk go?" the red head asked, leaning on one of the desks, "And may I ask why there is another hole in the tower?"

"The walk was refreshing and Thor came by again to ask me something about that brother of his," the brunette tossed the papers to the side, still humming.

"Tony Stark taking a refreshing walk? And what song are you humming? You never hum tunes unless-" Pepper quickly stood up fully, arms crossed with a raised eyebrow. "You didn't take a walk did you?"

Tony frowned at her with confusion, having absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

"What? I'm sorry, what does me humming have to do with not taking a walk?" the brunette turned to his tablet and picked it up, rereading the calculations on the screen.

"You only hum after you get laid, Tony; I know you."

The tablet fell from his hands as he stared at Pepper, mouth gaping wide open with horrified shock. Did Pepper just think he went off and had sex with someone? His mind started wandering; if he was humming after seeing Loki and he usually hums after getting laid but he didn't actually get laid, then . . .

It had to be because of the erections he was sporting because of his magic. That was it. It was not because Loki was worthy enough of pleasing Tony in a manner that made him feel like he just got laid.

And to make it worse, he was humming Loki's magic tune.

Again.

"I didn't go off and get laid, trust me, Pepper. I would've called you first." that received a smack to the head.

"You ass. But seriously, what's got you all happy and everything?"

"Nothing much to be honest. You know how I get working on modifications for my suit." the man chuckled lightly, turning his back to Pepper as he straightened some papers.

"Hmm, you've changed since I left then and it hasn't even been half a year yet. Not even a full two months. What song were you humming then? I don't think I've heard it before."

"Ah, uh, no you haven't." Tony coughed lightly as he strode across the room, "It's a new single from Lady Gaga she let me hear the other day."

Pepper raised an eyebrow, but took back the papers Tony had taken from her.

"Whatever you say. Just remember, I'm here for you if you need anything." Tony nodded and turned to watch her leave.

A heavy breath passed through him as her figure disappeared up the stairs. He didn't know why he was so freaked out; it's not like she knew anything about Loki's escape or their meeting or the fact that he gets turned on by magic. Nope, so there was nothing to be fretting about.

Nothing at all.

He then realized that he was free. There was nothing he had to do, nothing he was going to do, and nothing he wanted to do but learn more about magic so he could finish up designing this new suit. Loki did tell Tony to come by whenever he was free. But, Loki was so pissed when Tony left earlier. Three hours ago. Maybe Loki would be calmer and more willing to teach.

"Hey Heimdall," Tony shouted toward the ceiling, feeling a little stupid yelling at nothing, "Take me to the Bifrost. And please, don't add more holes to my tower. I actually like the only holes in it to be windows-_gah!"_

In a flash of rainbow, Tony was jerked off his feet and before he could process what had happened, he was on his knees trying not to vomit his guts on the Bifrost. Heimdall stood above him with a small smirk. Tony grumbled to himself and promised to ask Loki how the hell to teleport himself because damn, he would never get used to transportation via Bifrost.

Tony started walking down the Bifrost toward the gates of Asgard when he remembered he didn't know how the hell to get to Vanaheim. He was going to ask Heimdall, but then remembered Loki's whereabouts were supposed to be hidden and if he told Heimdall, then Heimdall would know where Loki was and tell Odin and shit would hit the fan.

Maybe he could ask Frigga how to get to Vanaheim. She already knew Loki was alive but wait, she didn't know Loki's whereabouts and Loki didn't want her to know because he didn't want her to get hurt, whatever that meant. So then, how the hell would he get to Vanaheim? Ugh, Loki! This was all his fault! If he hadn't been so pissed about the person at the door, he probably would have told Tony how to contact him or come back or-

"Stark?"

Tony quickly turned his head to the side, looking for the body that accompanied that accented voice. All he saw was Heimdall's back. Was Loki mind talking with him?

"Loki?" he whispered lightly, treading carefully on the Bifrost. "Did you speak to me or am I finally going insane?"

"You are going insane whether or not I speak to you, but yes, I am speaking to you."

"How? I thought trust bonds didn't enable mind speak."

"Mind speak?" Loki spat, sounding a bit horrified and confused.

"Telepathy or whatever. Magic voodoo stuff. So, where are you?" Tony continued to walk across the bridge, still searching for the god.

"Where I usually am. Why are you in Asgard? I though you were sent down to Midgard a few hours ago."

"Well, I came back, duh."

"Mmm, couldn't resist, could you? Stay on the Bifrost; I will be there to pick you up shortly."

"What?"

Loki didn't reply so Tony suspected the line went dead. Or whatever you call ending a mind speak conversation. Tony liked that phrase, mind speak. Anyway, how was Loki able to contact him? Did they have some secret magic bond Loki didn't mention previously? Did Loki cast some spell on him to make him trackable? Was Loki lying about the trust bond?

One thing about suspecting someone of lying was then figuring out why they would even lie about it in the first place. What advantage would Loki get by lying about a spell he cast on himself and Tony? Lying about this weird bond magic spell thingy Tony was still a little iffy about. Loki knew he was smart, so it couldn't just be to try to gain trust. It was obvious Loki need to trust Tony as well as he had said so their last meeting.

"Next time you wish to visit, don't call on Heimdall, understand?" Tony turned from looking out into space to find Loki in front of him, a hand on his . . . her hip?

"You," he started, pointing at the god, who was walking to him, "you're a woman."

"Indeed I am, how nice of you to notice, Stark," Loki droned, quite unamused. "No need to flatter me with small chat, you came here for a reason so speak."

Tony couldn't get past the words _Indeed I am_. "Why are you a woman?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Yes because you're actually a guy and now you're an attractive woman and you can't do that to me!"

Loki raised an eyebrow, giving Tony a look that screamed "what in the nine did you just say". Tony himself tried to take back his words, blabbing sentences that made no sense. The god (goddess?) rolled his (her? Gah, Loki, why you so confusing?) eyes and continued walking toward the gates of Asgard, her long green dress flowing after her.

"Follow me, Stark, so we may speak in private."

"Ok."

Tony ran to catch up with the woman and cocked his head to the side as she stared straight ahead. It was obviously Loki, one could tell by the eyes. Even though his face was softer and feminine, it was still Loki. Those eyebrows and that nose and those cheekbones and gah, why did Loki have to be hot in feminine form too?

Wait, what.

"Take my hand," Loki reached out a soft long-fingered hand and Tony noticed that her nails were black. He placed his hand in hers and then Loki pulled him close until they were chest to chest and oh, Loki had a rack.

Red stained his cheeks and he saw black once more. This time was a little different though, probably because Tony could actually use magic rather than just carry it. A soft hum started it all. It was the hum of his magic. Heat pooled in his stomach and a rush of power went through him as he saw swirls of white and silver before his eyes. A nebula like palette of colors flashed in front of him and colored the black canvas he was seeing. White dots sparkled in the distance, bright against the patterned sky. Silver added to the mix, curves and silky dashes dancing around him.

It didn't take long for green to join the mix, slowly darkening the silver to a mellow poison green. The green curled around his limbs, brushing against his skin and then Loki's melody started to play. It was a little different this time for Tony's melody was playing with it. This must be part of what Frigga was talking about when she said their magic complement each other. Despite being two different melodies with different chord changes and all around absolutely different notes, the two together worked. One complemented the other, emphasized different notes and beats and god, the beautiful music produced by this combination was enough to put Tony in tears.

When ground met feet, Tony clung on to the woman beside him, still trying to get his surroundings in focus. Loki chuckled and shoved him off, walking in those stupid black heels to light a fire in the fireplace. It seemed like Loki was no longer angry, so perhaps today would end up being a successful lesson after all.

(Loki was almost like Pepper during her time of the month; too many mood swings and all.)

"So," Tony started, watching Loki sit down in an armchair across the room, legs crossed at the knee, "I came here to ask you about magic traces."

"What about them?"

"Well, I assume everyone has one."

"Yes, everyone does. In fact, mine is hidden, hence why no one has been able to track me." Loki brushed a strand of hair from her face. "Also, no one has been able to track me because they're tracking a trace from a form of magic I am no longer using."

"So, you're not using Aesir magic?" Loki shook her head, a smile on her red painted lips. "Then what magic are you using-_oh!_So, you do know seithr magic!"

"A bit. I am no master at it, but I have decided to learn it so I no longer have to rely on Aesir magic. If I don't use Aesir magic, then no one can track me down and after long enough, no one will pursue me."

The look of joy on Loki's face at no one trying to look for her anymore almost saddened Tony.

"So, are you teaching me seithr magic?" Loki shook her head again. "What? Why not?"

"Aesir magic will better suit you, trust me on that." green eyes bored into brown. "I am only learning it because it is a necessity. Besides, if any of the Aesir learn that you can use seithr magic, well, that will not be good."

"Why not? You use seithr magic and no one seems to complain about it or anything."

"Are you an idiot? No one in Asgard knows I know this form of magic and everyone here thinks I am Vanir." Loki's eyes were narrowed slightly at Tony as she sat up a bit. "To the Aesir, magic is weak and the weakest form of magic is seithr magic. In the old days, certain humans used seithr magic."

"Oh, so it's weak because it's considered human magic. I see." Tony crossed his arms as he sat down on the bed. Kyna jumped onto the bed and sat next to him, her head in his lap. "Well, that still doesn't explain why you-"

"If you are gay and mortal, you practice seithr magic."

Oh.

Loki inspected her fingernails, her right leg swinging at the knee over her left. Tony coughed slightly and placed his hands on Kyna's head. "So," he continued after the silence, "I need to know if different people have different traces."

"Of course we do. It is like DNA in a way. Each person has their unique magical trace that can be tracked and only tracked with magic alone."

"But, how do you see it? How do you track it and how do you know you're tracking the right person?"

Loki smiled at that, climbing out of her seat with interest. It seemed like Tony had hit a topic that Loki knew lots about. Or at least asked a smart question that wasn't oozing ignorance.

"Ah, finally a good question," she purred, green eyes staring down at Tony as she paced across the bedroom, "In each realm there is a bank. Every being born with magic has this special magical aura about them that is easily seen at birth. The bank contains a bit of this magical aura from each child. In order to track someone, you must know their trace."

"And how do you know a trace?"

Brown eyes locked with green. "You have to touch their magic. This is easily done by going to the realm's bank. Family members do not need this for all magic in a family is tied through magic bonds that makes the trace already encoded. Hence my previous bond with Thor and Frigga."

"Okay. Answer this then. How can you see someone's trace and then how does it work? You know, tracking it and all."

This was actually kind of interesting to hear about. Good to know for his suit modifications.

"You can not ever see someone's trace, you can only feel it. It is that lingering sensation after feeling someone's magic and it is automatically kept in your brain like learning someone's name or their facial features. When someone uses their magic, there is a little flare in the back of your head noting that their trace is alive. You get used to it when you meet a lot of sorcerers or if you are a guard or something along those lines. The benefit of course is being able to easily track the magic trace without having to go to the Bank. Tracking it is a simple spell I plan on teaching you later once you have your magic under control." Loki smirked as she sat down beside Tony, Kyna crawling into her lap with glee. "Now, give me a few white sparks of your magic, Stark. Show me you have control."

Oh god, those words did things no words should ever do.

Tony stuck out his hand, palm facing up, and created a spark in his palm, the magic sparkling and bouncing in his hand. Loki took his wrist, her green eyes trained on the white magic. Tony could feel Loki's magic himself, hear that melody softly in the back of his head. His own magic flared at Loki's touch and the god pulled away, pleased.

"It has yet to be a full day since your magic has been awakened and already, you have gained some control." she parted her silky black hair to the side, murmuring a few words under her breath that styled it in a ponytail. "Now, we'll start with a simple spell."

"A tracking spell?"

Loki shook her head. "No, a basic healing spell all sorcerers should, but most don't, know. It is a part of healing magic and the spell is cast differently depending on which form of magic you use. I will tell you how to perform the spell, but I will not do so myself. Doing so will activate my Aesir magic trace."

"Uh, okay," Tony shrugged as Loki let go of his wrist and the magic in his palm dispersed into the air.

"First, you must gather enough magic for your hand to glow. Understand this, Stark: according to Aesir magic, in order for magic to glow, one must concentrate more on the energy around them rather than the energy inside them." Loki stood up and so Tony did the same, "There are certain precise calculations I learned to get the exact amount of magic necessary to make only my hand glow, but that is not necessary for you at this moment. Simply bring out the magic and make it glow. It should encompass your hand naturally. After all, magic hates to be too far from its person on its own."

Tony nodded and focused on the heat surrounding him rather than in him. The feeling was different and the energy felt much calmer as he manipulated it. Magic began to ooze from his skin and coat his hand in a thin layer of glowing white just as Loki had said. Tony looked up at Loki who was smiling down at him like a proud teacher.

To ruin the bonding moment again, someone knocked at the door and Loki turned, face hardened with irritation, not anger. She snapped her fingers as she walked toward the front of the house and Tony reached out, grabbing a hold of her arm. He really didn't want her to get pissy again; he was finally learning something and getting good and Loki was enjoying it too and Tony didn't want to leave so soon and then something went wrong.

Loki turned down at Tony with a raised eyebrow, her green magic swirling around her body as she tried to change to her Hyrr form. Tony could hear Loki's melody ringing through his head as he touched her and her magic coated him. Loki's eyes suddenly went wide as Tony's magic-coated hand brushed her arm and fire spewed out her mouth and landed on a rug as she coughed, falling onto her knees.

The brunette fell with her, unstable on his feet and Loki pushed him away, waving a hand that made the fire on the rug disappear. She was shaking on the ground, a hand at her chest as Tony sat up, rubbing his head.

"My magic," she muttered, staring at her hands with wide eyes, "it was uncontrolled. I think my Aesir magic was reactivated when you touched me."

"Really? Oh no, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" Tony cut himself off at his words.

One, since when did Tony Stark apologize and since when did he mean it? And two, why was his voice so high pitched? That's when he realized the blue eyes and red curly hair donning Loki. Loki was still Lady Loki, but now, she was Lady Hyrr!

"What happened?" he asked, still freaked out by his voice. "I sound like I'm in my late teens or something."

"Our magic is too intertwined, this is not good," Loki stood up, brushing red hair from her face before straightening her gray dress. "I do not know what exactly happened, but it seems that midst my spell, your magic did something and now I'm stuck in this female form of Hyrr and you're a teenager."

"What."

Loki, or Hyrr to be proper, nodded as she walked to her bed, a little rocky. Kyna padded by with a little whimper, obviously worried for her owner. The red-headed goddess simply collapsed onto the cushion, an elbow over her eyes with defeat. Tony stood up and grumbled at his height. Like he needed to get any shorter. Brushing a hand through his hair, he walked over to Hyrr and sat down beside her.

"So then, anymore lessons?" Hyrr lifted her elbow high enough to send him a watery glare. "Are you crying?"

"No, do I look like someone who would cry? Fire just burns a lot coming from my mouth." the woman grumbled before turning on her side, back facing teenage Tony. "You can go to the Bifrost and return home if you wish."

"But I don't wish to." that made Hyrr turn and stare at Tony with curious blue eyes. "I want you to finish teaching me the healing spell before I go. I've got to learn at least one spell today."

"Fine, but do you want to return to Midgard a mere seventeen year old child?"

"Change me back!"

"I don't know how." a small smirk countered that statement and made Tony scowl. Hyrr was just playing with him now, wasn't she? "So, you will be in this form until the spell wears off, if it ever does."

"Loki, I'm not joking here, get me back in my normal form."

"But you look so cute and innocent without that beard and those wrinkles and all."

"My face is not wrinkly!"

Hyrr laughed as she reached a hand up to his face and patted his cheek. Tony blushed furiously at the touch, his teenage body responding in a way that he really wished it wouldn't respond in right now. "You are too adorable. Now, coat your hand with your white magic and I will tell you the rest."

"Coat my hand with my magic? Oh, I think you meant you wanted me to coat your hand with my white-" Tony cut himself off quickly, watching Hyrr gape slightly, her face turning a little red. "Ah, sorry, my teenage self doesn't have a filter button."

"I see," a smirk curled on those lips as Hyrr sat up, "but that's fine. I wouldn't mind it anyway, now would I?"

Hyrr leaned in toward Tony, eyes slightly hooded as she placed a careful hand on his thigh, which completely turned his face pink. He could feel those fingers dance across his leg and he only had one thought in his head that was _oh fuck_ because what in the world was Loki thinking? Did the magic mess up his mental health too? Not like he was complaining.

"Glad to know that. That should come in handy next time we have a lesson."

Hyrr pulled away with an airy laugh, laying back on her bed. "Come on now, Stark. Bring out the magic, perform the spell, and you'll be able to return to your normal form."

Tony nodded and released his magic, doing what he had done before to cover it with the glowing energy. Hyrr sat up, her serious face on. Tony was pleased with that. Until she conjured up a knife out of nowhere and proceeded to slice his arm off.

(Not really of course.)

"Ow! What the fuck is wrong with you!" he screamed, blood dripping from the scratch. Hyrr waved a hand with impatience and the knife disappeared. Tony stared down at the gash, anger boiling in his gut.

"You can not perform a healing spell if you have nothing to heal." she said, unamused. "Now, wave your hand over the gash and the magic will do the rest. It knows when its person is injured and knows what to do to heal it."

Tony glared at the blue-eyed woman beside him before hovering his hand over the gash. A ray of white spilled from his hand and covered the wound. Before his eyes, the bleeding stopped and the skin melded together, sealing the gash in a matter of seconds. A pink line appeared where the injury used to be, but that too disappeared shortly after. Tony gaped at his arm and then at Hyrr as she climbed off the bed. He found his eyes tracing her form much too often for it to be good.

And whoa, his mouth was dirty when he was younger. Not cool. Not cool at all.

"Stand up Stark, I don't want my spell to somehow wander off onto my bed. Who knows what would happen." Tony stood up and stepped from the bed, crossing his arms once situated. "Stay still and this will all be over before you know it."

Hyrr waved her hands with a few muttered words and green poured from her fingertips, ten strands of magic melding into one as it approached Tony. He was covered in it and felt his own magic yearn to be released and converse with Loki's own. He kept it in though and it was really hard because the goddess' magic was very attractive for his magic and damn Frigga was so right about their magic complementing one another.

She did good picking Loki to be his teacher.

"Damn it, Stark," Hyrr panted, face flushed with her eyes squeezed shut. Tony opened eyes he didn't realized he had closed and found her killing off some fire that had obviously been spewed from her mouth. "I don't know what it is. This has never happened to me before."

"You okay there? You're a little sweaty and look a little sick."

Hyrr gave him a look. "I just threw up fire, Stark." the woman stared pacing, hands twined behind her back. "For some reason, your magic is unbalancing my own. Perhaps because we are using two different forms of magic. I have never heard of this before, two different forms of magic causing imbalance, but I never thought there would a Midgardian sorcerer either when I was a child. Here I am teaching him."

"Well, uh, you could switch to Aesir magic for a second," the glare sent his way was worthy of killing him, "or not. I could just stay here until the spell wears off. If it ever does."

"I can not risk using Aesir magic, so yes, stay here. I will try to find a way to removed the spell off you though."

"That's fine with me." Hyrr nodded and started walking out the room when Tony stopped her, "Hey, wait, why aren't you back in your male Loki form?"

"Because you like this form."

She winked at him before leaving the room and Tony simmered in embarrassment and anger, falling back onto the bed. It actually wasn't that bad hanging out with Loki. The sorceress allowed him to read some of the spell books she had brought in to try to find out how to turn Tony back to normal. He even learned how to create a hologram of simple shapes like squares and such, but that backfired when Hyrr went off balance and took Tony with her.

Needless to say, fires and boners are not cool.

Tony didn't know how long it was when Hyrr turned toward him with a soft smile and said "Your beard is back." Tony reached up to his face and patted his chin and whooped, jumping off the bed with vigor. The books on his lap fell to the ground but he didn't care because now he was back to normal and he could finally go home!

"Yes! I'm back to normal again!" Hyrr nodded and cast a simple spell, green flowing into her hair and eyes and clothing until Loki was looking at him, dressed in his classic armor. "And you are, too!"

"I decided to return to my normal form, Stark. I could have changed back whenever I wanted to." the accented male voice sent shivers down Tony's spine. God, it had been a little while since he had heard that voice. "I will transport you to the Bifrost and Heimdall will send you back."

"Wait," he said. Loki turned to him with a raised eyebrow, hand poised for a spell, "Can you teach me the transportation spell? I hate using the Bifrost mode of transportation."

"Teleportation requires much focus and control of magic. It would not be wise for you to try to use it. Besides, your magic is not fully settled into your body. After all, it is still white and has yet to change to-!" Loki suddenly gasped, a hand at his chest before a snarl formed on his lips and those green eyes hardened dangerously. "Something has happened, the connection is back."

"What connection?"

"My bond with Thor is back."

Tony didn't question it and let Loki grab his arm as the god teleported them. The same thing that happened with the teleportation earlier occurred, but instead of white magic, it was blue. Tony told this to Loki before the god went back to Vanaheim.

"Really? Then your magic has settled down. You are a strong sorcerer, Stark. Rarely does one's magic settle into their body so quickly."

"Well, it wasn't just me. After all, your magic helped calm mine down."

Whoa. Since when did Tony not take full credit for something of his if someone told him it was all him?

"Don't play nice, Stark." Loki replied bitterly, but the sparkle in his eyes said more.

"Wait, when we mind spoke earlier, well, how did you do that?"

"I tracked your trace and found your magic mind."

"Magic mind?"

"Yes, the essence of your magic. With that, I was able to contact you."

"But don't you need a bond to do that? Like a strong bond?"

"We already have one, Stark. Frigga said our magic complements the others'. Your trace has been encoded in my brain from birth. The same applies for you."

"Wait, how do you know this?"

"Teleportation." Loki's eyes went downcast. "When I teach you the concept of teleportation, you will understand."

"So, are you saying we're magical soul mates?"

"No, our magic is exactly the same, Stark, not similar, and any magic that is the same is connected." The god looked up with a small sad smile. "It only makes sense."

Before Tony could ask another question, Loki disappeared and left him confused as ever. He and Loki had the same magic? So, are their traces the same then? If so, then Loki could also use his suit when Tony upgraded it. But then, why was their magic the same? What mystical force birthed the two of them with the exact same magic? Was it a part of the plan to make sure Loki taught Tony to be prepared for Ragnarok?

Tony shook his head and walked over to Heimdall, who transported him back to Earth. Once home, the man jumped into his bed with a frustrated moan. Why was magic so complicated? He turned onto his back and conjured his magic, watching swirls of blue float into the air. He let his fingers dance with the airborne strands, let them form whatever shape was on his mind. The swirls of blue lightened to a bright gray, which darkened to a silver gray. A square formed, then a cube. A sphere and a pyramid. A four story building and then a car. The silhouette of a tiger and then the silhouette of a certain green-eyed god.

The brunette smashed the glowing magic with his fist and turned onto his stomach, face smashed into his pillow. This whole magic stuff was getting on his nerves. No worries though. Soon enough, there would be nothing to be confused about and he would stop Ragnarok and everything will be fine.

"Dude, I thought you'd never come back!" Clint shouted. A headache started to throb in Tony's head as he turned to face the archer. "The Avengers have been called for an important meeting."

"A meeting?" that got Tony to sit up quickly. "Why? Have some villains suddenly attacked?"

Nope, it was Thor telling everyone he could contact Loki once more.

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One more chapter and then that's the last update for the day! Don't forget to review, it's really encouraging :D (and thanks for all the views and such when the story's only been up for a day! It's already over 300 views!)


	6. Discoveries

**Fiona12690:** Oh my gosh, thank you so much! I'm truly pleased you like this story and the concept of it! There will be more updates soon enough, here's the longest one so far! Once again, thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing and everything! :D

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**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 6:** _Discoveries_

Rating: T

Length: 10,683 words

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: It's been a while since the first lesson and some serious shit goes down concerning Tony's relationship with Loki.

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Tony frowned slightly as he read through a random book down in his lab. Okay, well, it wasn't really a random book. Tony didn't read often, at least not paper books, but he needed to study these spells Loki had given him as homework. Oh yes, Tony had homework and oh, how he hated it with passion.

It had been two full weeks since the first lesson. Fourteen days of six or more hours per day lessons. Tony went up to Loki daily after midnight and usually didn't come back to Earth until dawn or a couple hours after. He was learning a lot though from Loki and it was getting much easier for him to get used to the notion of having magic. It was still a weird concept, but Tony was sure he'd get it down by Ragnarok. In fact, according to Loki, he had complete control of his magic, which made sense because his arc reactor was back to glowing blue.

Over those fourteen days, Tony learned a lot, including how to properly heal, how to animate inanimate objects and how to teleport objects to him that are in his sight. The later was difficult and required lots of magic, but he tried his best because Loki told him it was the first step to learning teleportation spells and he really wanted to start teleporting himself to Vanaheim.

Lucky for Tony, he was no longer using the Bifrost mode of transportation. No more getting swallowed by rainbows for him. Instead, Tony would mind speak with Loki, who would then cast a very powerful and very energy-draining spell to teleport Tony over to him. Tony didn't know how the spell worked, after all, didn't one need to see the object they're teleporting? Loki didn't explain much though when Tony asked about it. He said it was something associated with their magic since their magic traces are exactly the same and all that good stuff.

It didn't really help Tony understand why Loki was able to teleport him over to the god's house, but he didn't ask for clarification and hadn't since. The teleportation spell was really draining and it tired Loki so much, during half the lesson, he was usually asleep. So, Tony was eager to learn this teleportation spell so Loki didn't have to pass out with exhaustion every lesson. He was learning a lot even with Loki asleep half the time, but he needed to learn more. Who knew when the villains would come out and start Ragnarok. Plus, he was supposed to be searching for them and figuring out what was going on. After all, he worked under Frigga's name now. He couldn't be lazy about this. Not when the world was about to end.

Since the end of the world would most likely end in bloodshed, or at least contain a hell of a lot of it if Tony does stop it, Loki focused a lot on teaching Tony healing and war magics. These two types of magic needed a lot of formulas for the spells to be cast, so Tony had to memorize a whole bunch of them. Loki was also preparing Tony for learning teleportation and shapeshifting spells because that type of magic also needed a lot of formulas. The god was a master in shapeshifting magic and Tony was excited to learn all the tricks and secrets of Loki's works. Loki was reluctant at first to teach Tony his specialty, given that it's his strength and Loki was a bit iffy about teaching his enemy his strength, but decided to teach Tony it anyway since every type of magic would be necessary if Tony wanted to stop Ragnarok.

The mortal sorcerer had learned a few formulas for healing at least, such as formulas for how to heal certain parts of his body where too much magic would permanently injure or kill him. Tony had asked about healing other people because the formulas for healing those certain parts of the body needed body mass, magical charge (electric charge for humans), and usage of magic statistics and well, he didn't know everyone's mass, magical charge, and usage of magic statistics.

"A sorcerer heals those he needs, those he must heal," Loki had replied, halfway asleep on his bed, "Because of this, the sorcerer knows these measurements before he goes into battle. It is his priority to do so if he wishes to save those he loves. I recommend you find out the measurements of your fellow Avengers. Who know when you may need to heal them."

"Loki," Tony replied softly, book in hand as Kyna laid down between him and Loki, who had just closed his eyes, "can you tell me your measurements?"

Loki didn't reply, he had fallen asleep, and Tony didn't ask again. It was sort of an "in the moment" thing and he still questioned why he even asked. Loki was a sorcerer, he could heal his own damn self. If so, then why would Tony ask? Knowing those three measurements was important for healing and teleportation magic, but it was also needed for Dark and Blood Magics, two forms Loki only spoke of once.

Blood Magic was exactly what the name says. A form of magic where blood of the caster is very much needed. Dark Magic on the other hand was an extreme of painful tortuous magic used to cause deliberate harm. Both forms were found in every type and every form of magic whether healing magic or seer (types of magic), or Aesir or seithr magic (forms of magic).

With those three measurements, one could use the Dark Magic form of healing magic, which Tony could just imagine is very painful and not fun. Those three measurements could be used against someone, so it was a huge act of trust for one to give them to a magic user and especially for a magic user to give his or her measurements to another magic user. It was so big an act of trust, it deserved a new name, and it had one. In Asgard, the act of giving someone those three measurements was called _hugr_ and the three measurements were called _elskath_. Tony found the last word weird because in English, that translated to love, but he paid it no mind in the long run. He had bigger things to worry about. Such as why he asked for Loki's elskath in the first place.

Was Tony testing Loki's trust in him by asking for the elskath? Did Loki know his? Wouldn't the god have to in order to teleport Tony over? Or was that once more an unexplainable phenomenon cause by their twined magic?

Speaking of twined magic, Tony had noticed a little something over the past two weeks. Whenever he dabbled around with his magic and focused on the feeling, not the force, behind it, it slowly turned silver. He told Loki about it as soon as the color change first happened (coming back to Earth after the miscast spell that turned him seventeen) and Loki yelled at him not to do that.

"Why not?" Tony had asked as a silver gray cube floated between the two of them. Loki grit his teeth angrily, green eyes glaring at Tony.

"You just can not do so, Stark. Silver is not your natural color; there is something wrong," the god waved a hand and the magic dispersed, "Remember, focus on the force, not the feeling. Whatever you were doing before was wrong."

Tony had nodded and created a new cube that was blue, but as soon as he got back down on Earth, he created some more silver objects. He was totally ignoring Loki on the matter, but he was pretty sure Loki already knew (as when he returned the next day, Loki was scowling and went to sleep much faster than usual) and stopped giving a damn at some point.

Tony found his magic interesting for more than just the fact that it was magic and liked to turn silver. Perhaps his magic hadn't settled down like Loki thought. On occasion, his magic would tinge green. Green like the color of Loki's magic or his eyes. It only tinged green though near Loki and the god just summed it up to their duplicate magic and went back to sleep after Tony pointed it out. Everything seemed to sum up to their duplicate magic. Loki was either hiding something or really didn't want to put in the work to figure out what was going on with Tony's magic.

Tony also liked to ponder over Loki's words after the female Hyrr incident. The whole spiel about teleportation magic explaining their magic and their magic traces being encoded since birth. He didn't ask any questions about it after the incident and figured he'd ask later once he really started learning these teleportation spells and stuff.

Tony sighed as he flipped a couple more pages, mind filled with formulas and equations of a different stature than the one he was used to. Loki had given him quite a few books on magic, but he focused on the necessities and the topics he was learning so he could master it. The books were old and written in Old Norse, but Tony understood it somehow. Just looking at the words, symbols, and runes translated them into English in his head and it just made sense for him.

Reading a section about the magical capacities of Mjolnir, Tony's mind wandered to Thor. Ah yes, the big blonde god of thunder. Indeed the bond between Thor and Loki had somehow been reinstated. Thor didn't know why, Loki didn't know why, but now they could mind speak. And Loki was doing everything in his power to ignore Thor. Tony had asked why Loki didn't just destroy the bond again, but Loki said something about this bond being different. He didn't know how to destroy it.

"Before, we had a brother bond, which was fake given we are not blood brothers and those are formed through biological connection. This bond is different."

"How so?"

"I know not. I did not create this bond, you can trust me on that, and Thor is incapable of such a thing. It almost seems like an animal bond."

Tony didn't question it after that. He hadn't asked Thor about it either for a couple reasons. One, he didn't want to get Thor excited because an excited Thor meant mind speaking with Loki, which irritated Loki, which in turn made Tony's lesson suck. Two, he would have to leave his lab, which he had been in non-stop for the past few days.

He told his fellow Avengers he was fixing up his suit, when in reality, he hadn't touch the suit or his new plans in at least ten days. Tony had been focused on magic. It didn't help that he didn't arrive on Earth until after dawn, slept for a few hours and then spent the rest of the day fooling around and memorizing stuff until midnight when he'd go back up to Loki and start all over with the learning process.

See any time for hanging out with his colleagues? No? Yeah, well neither did he.

Tony supposed that frame of mind convinced the Avengers to send someone down to talk to him and get him out the lab. Who better to use than Bruce Banner, Tony's one and only science bro.

"Tony," the reading man looked up from his book with a smile, closing it to place it on the desk, "You reading a book?"

"Yeah, I decided to take a blast to the past," Tony chuckled as he spun in his chair, grabbing the other books splayed by his feet, "It's pretty fun once you get into it."

"I know. I still read books myself." Bruce adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose as Tony stood up, a pile of books in hand. "Look, we're all worried about you locking yourself down here. Pepper told us not to worry, but I think something's going on with you."

Tony snorted as he placed the Norse books on a shelf, "Nothing is wrong with me. You guys know I lock myself up down here and only come up for food. That's all I've been doing recently."

"You died a couple weeks ago, Tony. We can't forget that and neither can you." Tony turned to face Bruce, a frown on his lips. "What are you doing down here that you can't do upstairs?"

"Work," the billionaire replied as he grabbed his phone, looking at the time. Whoa, it was five until midnight. Looked like he had to go up to Loki soon, "I've got some cleaning up to do down here, so if you can,-"

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what you know. You're hiding something from us, I can tell." Bruce walked closer to his friend, putting a hand on the man's shoulder. "I'm glad you're sleeping and that you're excited over what you discovered, but-"

"I get it, I know. Don't forget to socialize with you guys." the brunette nodded impatiently. "Hey, the restoration of New York is still on, right? We should go out to a couple of those celebration parties later this week or go help out a bit. We have no villains to fight and I'm done chasing cat burglars. There's no real fight in that."

"Ok," the scientist said with a raised eyebrow, "Look, tell me how your suit is working."

"Uh, sure," Damn it, he hadn't touched his suit, it probably had dust all over it and then Bruce would know for sure that he hadn't been working on the suit, "but you won't see anything different with it. It's mostly internal and Jarvis related stuff."

"You can still show me, right?"

Tony froze for half a second as he walked to the cased up suits, "Yeah, of course." He sent a smile Bruce's way before feeling a familiar pang in the back of his head. Loki was using magic. Looks like the god wanted to mind speak.

_"Stark, do not come up today."_

Tony paused midst opening a suit case, mouth open with shock. **"What do you mean don't come up today? You said you were gonna show me how to cast a few destruction spells for warcraft!"**

_"Yes, well, our plans had to be canceled." _A scowl formed on Tony's face as he opened the case and turned on the Iron Man suit.

**"Why. You can at least tell me that."**

_"I am too sick to be able to bring you up here. I fear if I do, I will overpower and possibly die or become comatose." _Tony raised an unamused eyebrow that confused Bruce.

**"Send me up there, Loki, you won't die. And you're already comatose,"** that earned a growl from Loki, which then morphed into gut-wrenching coughing, **"Don't cough, you're flaring my pity glands."**

_"You are correct though, I must teach you despite my condition. I have a duty to Frigga to teach you and prepare you for your mission and assignment."_ another cough rang through Tony's head as the man finally noticed Bruce was talking to him.

"I'm sorry, what?" Tony asked aloud, shaking his head, "I was distracted."

"I asked you to show me the improvements."

Oh, Tony had dug himself into a hole this time around. "Yeah, I can do that. Jarvis, show Bruce a couple of the improvements I've made."

"But sir, there are not any-"

"Yes, there are," he said through gritted teeth, "I told you about them the other day, remember?"

_"Occupied with Banner?"_ the god's voice was hoarse but full of snark, "_I am sorry to interrupt you then."_

**"No, no, you're fine. I'm coming over to you, even if it means using the Bifrost and wandering through Asgard to get to Vanaheim."**

_"Your dedication to me is heartwarming."_

**"I know, right? All I need now is your elskath and then we're set."** Oh wait. That wasn't supposed to be mind spoken to Loki.

_"You want my elskath,"_ Loki sounded amused, but Tony could hear the barely noticeable edge of fright and bitterness in the god's voice. The fright confused Tony for a moment until he remembered that Loki still thought Tony his enemy.

**"Ignore that, I don't know what I was thinking,"** the man sighed aloud as he paced through the lab, turning to Bruce, who was chatting with Jarvis about some new feature Tony had added a month back, but never showed anyone, **"Just beam me up, Scotty."**

_"I would be willing to give it to you, you know, but if you wish for me to ignore your request, I can gladly do so."_

"Wait, really?"

Bruce turned at that, confusion written all over his face. That's when Tony realized he said that last part out loud. He really should focus on one thing at a time. "Tony, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good, Bruce. Totally fine and dandy; there is absolutely nothing you need to worry about. In fact, since you want me to socialize with everyone else so bad, I'll come up to say hi real quickly." Bruce smiled at that.

This was it. This was the moment where Tony would use his magic to create a duplicate of himself and let that do this one singular job while he was up with Loki. _"I wouldn't recommend doing so, Stark. You do not have enough skill to cast such a spell."_

**"Ugh, you're gonna make me actually go up and say hi to them, aren't you?"**

_"Oh Stark, you know me too well. This will pose a danger."_

**"Danger my ass."**

_"When you say hello, I will teleport you here. Consider it your reward for good behavior."_

The connection ended and Tony begrudgingly followed Bruce out of the lab, straightening his shirt as to prepare himself for the debriefing from his friends. He really wanted to be up in Vanaheim, but not even Loki would let him go up there until this meeting was done and over with. When they got to the correct floor, everyone turned as Tony and Bruce stepped out the elevator. Pepper smiled and stood up, walking to the two men.

"I knew you'd come up soon enough," she hugged Tony and motioned for him to sit down between Steve and Thor, "Tell us, what have you been working on that's keeping you so locked up? Is it your arc reactor?"

"As a matter of fact, it is," he half-lied. After all, his arc reactor problems were fixed. Steve smiled happily and Thor patted his back. Natasha nodded with approval and Clint nodded as well, leaning back in his seat. "I am pretty sure this thing won't be going out anytime soon. If any villains attack, I'll be ready to fight them off."

"That's great. We were really worried about that," the blonde super soldier squeezed the inventor's arm gently in a friendly manner before looking over at Thor, "Thor, have you managed to speak with Loki?"

"No, Rogers, he continues to ignore my approaches," Tony's heart clenched at Thor's defeated voice. It sounded like Loki's defeated voice. The voice Loki used whenever he'd just finished batting away Thor, "I plan on speaking with my mother on this matter soon enough. Her skills in magic should help determine how my bond with him has been restored. Perhaps then, we will be able to find him and return Loki to his prison where he belongs."

"Prison?" Tony echoed, everyone turning to him with mixed expressions, "I mean, if he got out of the prison once already, why would you place him in it again?"

No one replied to that, each pondering Tony's words. "There is no need to worry, Stark. Odin knows many a way to contain Loki. He will try his best to keep my brother locked down. It is the only way to keep the Nine safe."

"But, he hasn't done anything recently," Tony needed to shut his mouth. Here he was defending Loki when a couple weeks back, he was arguing with Thor about having possible interactions with the god. "We shouldn't focus on him, we should focus on the villains that have suddenly disappeared from the radar."

"That is why we're focused on him, Tony," Clint spoke up, blue eyes narrowed at Tony, who was scowling, "He could be the one keeping all the villains back. He could be organizing another way to lead another attack on Earth. Loki is a smart god, which means he's a dangerous god. Everything he does should be monitored and since we can't do that, we must expect the worst."

Tony clenched his jaw a bit before he ran a hand through his ruffled hair, leaning back against the couch, "You've got a point there, Legolas, but until he attacks, I don't believe he's doing anything other than chilling around in Vanaheim teaching Vanir how to be asses like him."

_"Stark, why are you telling them where I am?"_

Tony snorted at Loki's voice, **"Like they believe me."**

"Vanaheim? You know of Vanaheim?" Thor was absolutely astounded. Tony nodded carefully, ignoring Loki's round of curses that echoed in his head.

**"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."**

"I did my research after the invasion like Natasha. He could be in Jotunheim or Alfheim, too. Or just amongst Ginnungagap getting lost. Or he could be dead. Who knows and I don't really care as long as he does not near Earth again."

"I will communicate with Loki this instant," Thor announced, closing his eyes as everyone stared at him.

_"Stark, prepare to be throughly snapped at when you arrive,"_ Loki tacked on, _"I am much too weak to continue batting away Thor. Because of you, that oaf may have earned his conversation with me."_

**"I'm not sure whether I should be happy or upset."**

_"Be upset Stark because there is no way possible I will cooperate with you during your lesson."_

A smirk slid onto Tony's lips as Thor opened his eyes with shock, sitting up against the couch excitedly. "Brother?"

**"Why is he speaking out loud?" **Tony asked Loki, **"Does it help make sure you hear him or something?"**

_"I do not know. He has done so all his life; I believe it is a habit now." _Loki's voice was soft and scratchy, _"I must end my conversation with you, though. I am weak and may blend the two conversations together. Thor will then know you and I are in touch and I assure you no good may come of that."_

**"Ok, but when I get to Vanaheim, you have to tell me what you spoke with Thor about."**

Loki didn't reply and simply ended the call. Thor slouched a bit with a frown, before perking once more. "Tell me, where are you, Loki? You need to return to Asgard. Brother, I-no, no, please do no such thing! I know not how we can once more communicate in such a manner, but do not-"

The blonde god deflated pretty quickly after that and Tony assumed Loki hung up on Thor. "What did he say?" Natasha spoke up first, eyes narrowed at Tony before turning to Thor.

"He will not inform me of where he rests and threatens to destroy this bond if I consult Frigga for assistance." Tony snorted inwardly. Loki couldn't destroy it, so Thor could go yap about his brother problems to Frigga all he wanted. Of course, Thor didn't know that and Tony couldn't tell him, so there was nothing he could do.

"So, that was fun," Tony faked a yawn as he stood up, all eyes on him, "but I have some work to do and some rest to get. I'll talk to you all later, right?"

"Sure," Steve smiled up at the man, "I don't like it when you hole yourself up like that. None of us do, especially while we have this dilemma with the disappearing villains."

"I'll be sure to chat later, you can count on that."

With those words, Tony walked back down to his lab and grabbed his magic books, smiling at that familiar pang in the back of his head that meant Loki was using his magic. Tony liked this form of teleportation the most out of the ones he'd been a victim of. A soft hum started it all, just like when Lady Loki first teleported him off the Bifrost. It was the hum of his magic and the good thing was that his own song was becoming more intricate as his skills with magic increased. Heat pooled in his stomach like usual and a rush of power went through him as he saw swirls of blue, silver and green before his eyes. A nebula like palette of colors flashed in front of him and colored the black canvas he was seeing. White dots sparkled in the distance, bright against the patterned sky. Silver added to the mix, curves and silky dashes dancing around him.

Loki told him a little while back that the nebula palette of colors and the white sparkling dots he saw was the magic of Ginnungagap. Ginnungagap was the waters around Earth that kept Earth sheltered from the other worlds. The Midgard Serpent rested in those waters, hence why the Bifrost was used to get from Earth to Asgard and back again. During teleportation, one traveled through Ginnungagap and saw the magic in the waters. Ginnungagap was also the empty space between worlds and was the empty space before the worlds were created. It carried the oldest form of magic known to all living beings. Only during teleportation from Asgard to Earth or Earth to Asgard did one see the swirls of other colors, typically the swirls of their own magic.

This form of teleportation was more personal for Tony at least. He could feel the magic of Ginnungagap and listen to the hum of his magic with no interference. With each teleportation, he could hear the complexity of the melody increase and he could feel even more of Ginnungagap press against him. On occasion, he would even feel the swirls of color curl against his skin and send warm soothing shocks through his body. It was calming and enjoyable even though the whole process was very short.

Time slowed or something in Ginnungagap. The teleportation didn't ever take more than an eighth of a second, but it felt like at least thirty seconds when traveling through Ginnungagap. Loki said teleportation from world to world caused that, but teleportation when within one world did not usually include the empty space of Ginnungagap. On Earth though, one would have to travel through the waters of Ginnungagap to acquaint themselves with magic around Earth that's not on Earth since Earth is the land of mortal men and does not carry magic.

Tony opened his eyes and found himself in Loki's home, specifically the bedroom. Kyna ran to him and wagged her tail, receiving a pat on the head for her efforts. The fire was blazing in the fireplace and Tony could smell food from the kitchen. He placed the books on the bedside table and walked to the doorway, leaning against it to watch Loki across the way, cooking something in a pot over a fireplace, probably soup. The god heard Tony and turned, a soft smile soon turning to a hard heavy unforgivable glare.

"I should kill you right where you stand," the god spat, turning back to his food, "Thor now knows there is a possibility I will reply to his communications."

"You're welcome," he said, walking toward the god with a smirk.

Loki rolled his eyes and waved a hand, green seeping into Tony's clothes, changing them into a thin blue shirt and black pants, black combat boots donning his feet as well. His hair was gelled back slightly, parted to the right, and his beard was trimmed and smooth. Loki did this every lesson in case someone were to come in and interrupt the two. He said if Tony looked Vanir, no one would suspect him of being mortal and human. So far, no one had interrupted but during that lesson with the teenage Tony fiasco. Loki never did tell him who was at the door. It obviously wasn't the same person as before though.

"Here," the green eyed god turned to face Tony, a bowl in hand. They locked eyes, brown against green, before Tony took the bowl, both men averting their eyes, "You are lucky you came at this time or else I wouldn't be feeding you."

"Lucky me," the brunette stood beside Loki awkwardly, watching the god fix himself a bowl. "I thought you were so sick the spell might make you comatose."

"I am that sick. Why would I lie about such a thing?" green eyes turned to Tony before the god walked to a wooden table, placing the clay bowl on it, "I'm actually in bed right now if you really want to see me."

"So, this is a duplicate."

"More or less." the duplicate sighed heavily before grabbing the bowl once more with sad green eyes. "Follow me, Stark."

Tony raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he followed Loki to the bedroom he had been in previously. He noticed the bundle on the bed he hadn't seen before and watched the Loki duplicate kneel beside the bed. The bundle of sheet and covers moved until two green eyes were seen. Those eyes were dull and dark and didn't send Tony any good vibes. The rest of the fabric uncovered the rest of Loki, who was a pale, sweaty mess of a god that looked too weak to even sit up. He was dressed in a red shirt and thin gray pants, but they all looked too big on him.

"My god," Tony gasped, surprised at the sight. Loki, the real Loki that is, laughed as he took the bowl from the duplicate's hands.

"Trust me, I do not usually look this bad. I have released my magic from my body in order to let my body heal." the god motioned to the Loki duplicate. "This is my magic you are seeing. He is the one who brought you here, but I am the one who cast the spell and engaged in conversation with you when you were back on Midgard."

"Whoa," Tony said, staring at Loki's magic. "So, your magic takes the form of yourself?"

"Exactly," Loki sighed heavily as he closed his eyes, soup still in hand. "I am actually sicker without it, given magic has been a part of me since my conception, but in order to heal my body, I must let it go but for a moment. Releasing it allows my body to relax so it does not have to exert much energy on keeping it contained and settled. My body can then focus on self repair."

"So, you can heal your body by releasing your magic. Can anyone just steal your magic and use it?"

"Yes, which is why not many sorcerers know the spell to be able to do so and usually only cast it in solitude or when they know they will be safe for a while." Tony nodded with understanding. "One can also heal their magic by doing the same thing; releasing their magic from their body. It is rare that magic itself will need to be healed, but if it has been manipulated or has been used for Dark or Blood Magics, then the process of healing magic is necessary."

"How do you heal magic?"

"Magic heals on its own because of the magic in the air in all worlds but Midgard. Ginnungagap is always around us and the magic in Ginnungagap helps restore magic to its former glory." green eyes barely opened and stared into the fireplace as sweat coated the god's forehead and plastered black hair to his face, "Damn, even talking aloud is killing me inside."

"Then shut up," Tony pointed out, watching Loki sip some of the soup, "You are in no shape to do anything. Your magic and I will take care of you right now."

"Stark-"

"I thought I told you to shut up," the man crossed his arms before letting out a little sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck, "After I eat, all focus is on getting you healthy again. Do not complain, do not speak, and let me do all the work."

Loki didn't say anything, but his eyes said he really didn't want to be taken care of. Tony proceeded to attempt to get Loki out of bed, but the god would not budge and glared at the man the whole time. Finally, Loki's magic decided to join in by knocking the god unconscious, which allowed the two to pick Loki up and place him on the couch in the main room. Once Loki was settled down, Tony replaced all the sheet and covers on the bed, dressing it properly so Loki would feel more comfortable in bed. Loki's magic brought Loki back in and Tony tucked him in, possibly letting his hand linger on Loki's face too long for it not to be an intimate gesture. Loki's magic simply raised a smug eyebrow at that as he took the soup bowls and let the room.

"His magic is just like himself," Tony grumbled as he placed a chair by the head of Loki's bed. He placed a hand on the god's forehead and frowned at the heat. Loki had an extremely high fever. Tony didn't know how the hell to deal with fevers and he couldn't heal Loki with magic, no, he didn't know the god's elskath. Loki's magic couldn't cast spells, so that wouldn't work.

Maybe he could just heal Loki the way humans do. At least the old fashioned way.

A minute or so later, Tony returned to the bedroom with a basin of cold water and a wet washcloth. He sat down in the chair, folded the washcloth, and gently placed it on Loki's forehead, hoping that would help a bit. Loki's magic entered the room and knelt by Loki's bed, worry in his eyes. "I don't know what to do. I don't know his elskath so I can't extinguish the fever."

"I can give it to you," Loki's magic said, eyes trained on Tony, "He said he would anyway and I feel like he would not mind in this situation."

"No, don't," Tony replied, surprising himself and Loki's magic, "I want him to give it to me, no offense. It feels sort of wrong getting it from you, even though you two are sort of one in the same."

"We are one in the same, too," the magic motioned to Tony and himself, "Our magic is exactly the same. I can feel it."

The man stood up, "Yeah, Loki's told me. Hey, wake him up, I'll make him some tea or something. Maybe get him to drink some water.

Loki's magic nodded and proceeded to wake the sick god as Tony wandered off to the kitchen. He set the tea kettle over the fire and then thought about giving Loki a hot drink when he was burning up. The man proceeded to pour a cup of water instead, leaving the kettle over the fire though, and entered the room as Loki woke up.

"Take this, it's water," Tony said, shoving the cup in the god's face. Loki blinked but took the cup with a barely noticeable thank you, "And keep the washcloth on your face, you need it. It helps cool you down, or it should." Loki nodded as he sipped from the cup, eyes half closed with sleep, "If I had known what this would've done to you, I wouldn't have asked you to do this."

"No one would've known but seers and the volva, Stark. It is but a bump in the road; a minor setback. I have never used so much magic so often and so repeatedly before. This is good training for me as well." the god closed his eyes, cup still in hand. Tony gently took it from the god's grasp and rewet the washcloth, placing it on Loki's forehead once more.

"I thought I told you to shut up," the man mumbled, a soft gentle edge to his voice. A smile formed on Loki's lips at that, "Hey, do you want a story?"

"A story? Who do you think I am, a sickly child?"

"You sort of are one right now." Tony pointed out as he sat on the chair by the head of Loki's bed. Green eyes opened and turned to face him with a raised eyebrow, "Alright then, what's a good one to tell?"

"Hmm, how about Shakespeare? I enjoyed reading his works during my stay on Midgard years ago."

"Why am I not surprised?" Loki snorted slightly, eyes still trained on Tony, "Ok, uh, which one then?"

"Hamlet."

"Oh, okay. Let's see. Well, it starts off with three witches who-"

"No, that is the wrong play, Stark. I said Hamlet, not Macbeth."

"Oh, right," Tony chuckled to himself as Loki rolled his eyes, a small smile on his lips.

"Tell me a story about yourself then since Shakespeare is not your strong suit and anything about yourself is."

Tony frowned slightly, searching his brain for a good story about his life that wasn't tainted by Howard or Iron Man. "Ok, well, when I was young, I went to a boarding school. I didn't really see much of my parents to be honest, but that's beside the point. Here I was, super genius and all, getting ready for MIT at fourteen. Needless to say, there were a lot of kids who didn't like me much. One day shortly before my departure, these group of boys tried to play some chemistry trick on me. They switched up formulas in the book and the labels for the ingredients and all sorts of things. I didn't know until it was too late and the experiment completely exploded in my face."

Loki let out a small held back chuckle, eyes crinkled slightly with laughter. Tony let out a couple laughs as well. "I looked horrible, absolutely horrible. Trust me, you didn't want to be there."

"Oh, but I would. Things like that amuse me. I used to do the same to Thor when we were young and I was just grasping magic." the god's eyes glazed over slightly, "I tried to do the same with his friends, but it never worked out. They did not seem to like my tricks the way Thor did. Or the way I thought Thor did."

Tony's eyes softened as Loki sighed, curling up against himself. The man reached out and removed the towel, soaking it in the basin of cold water before he placed it back on Loki's forehead. The god let out a content sigh and Tony let his hand linger on the god's face, feeling the heated flesh beneath his fingers. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Loki replied softly, bright green eyes trained on Tony's brown ones. The man could barely feel Loki's breath on his fingers, "175, 3876-plus, and 400 sparks per second."

"What?" Tony asked confused as Loki closed his eyes, falling asleep once more. The man turned to Loki's magic, who was smiling down at the sleeping Loki. "What did he say?"

"He _hugr_. He gave you his elskath," the magic replied happily, "You are the first person outside his family to have his elskath."

"Oh," Tony murmured, gently brushing hair from the god's face. "175 pounds for body mass, 3876 positive for magical charge and 400 sparks per second for magic usage. Damn, he uses a lot of magic, but it makes sense. It's highly charged and very powerful. He would have to use it often unless he wants it to combust or something."

Loki's magic said no more and left the room. Tony stared down at Loki and let a smile curl onto his lips. "Thank you," he said before closing his eyes, letting himself feel the force within his magic. His right hand developed a spark in the palm and he let the spark grow until it covered his whole hand in a rich warm glow similar to the glow of his reactor.

He thought of the formula he had learned for healing and inserted Loki's elskath, finding the solution for the amount of magic necessary to heal Loki's fever without killing him. The man let the glow of the magic seep back into his body before five tendrils of magic leaked from his fingers, inching toward the god's face. Tony felt his magic brush against Loki's face and was a little startled to not feel Loki's magic respond to the touch. That's when he remembered that Loki wasn't carrying his magic inside his body. The blue of Tony's magic spread across Loki's head, making it glow slightly. The sorcerer could barely hear the sound of his magic in his head, but it was there, just a soft gentle hum.

Tony willed his magic to heal Loki, to find the source of the fever and extinguish it with just enough magic to cause no harm. This was his first time healing someone else, so he hoped he did it right. If he were to kill Loki, good things would not happen. Tony calmed himself and focused on the feeling of his magic, of the force with in it. The blue continued to spread across Loki and in a blink of an eye, it was all gone and Loki was sitting up, panting with a hand to his chest and wide startled green eyes.

Before Tony could even stop himself, he grabbed Loki and took him into a hug, startling the healed god. Once he realized what he was doing, Tony started to pull away, but he felt Loki's arms wrap around him and instead, he squeezed tighter, burying his face in the god's neck. "You can stop now, Stark, you've healed me I do believe."

"I know," Tony smiled happily, pulling away from Loki with glee, "I can't believe I did it. I can't believe you _hugr!_ I didn't think you would, but-"

Loki cut Tony off, a hand cupping the mortal sorcerer's cheek, "I trust you."

Tony sat there in silence, unsure of what to say. The words spilled out his mouth before he could stop himself, "152 pounds, 1850-plus, and 267 sparks per second."

"I know," Loki said quietly as Tony placed his hand over Loki's, "I know already from teaching you and helping you figure your elskath out yourself, but I know it is hugr that you wish to express and I thank you for that."

Tony thanked the gods and every living being in all the nine worlds for letting Freyr come in right then and there because if the King of Vanaheim hadn't come into the room, Tony was pretty sure he and Loki would've been locking lips. Loki removed his hand from Tony's face with an irritated growl, more upset that Freyr was there in the first place. Tony himself scooted his chair away from the bed and watched Freyr look at Loki with sad eyes.

"You have exhausted yourself," the King said, kneeling by Loki's bed. The god scowled as he climbed out of bed, ignoring Freyr, "I see this is the mortal you had told me about. The one that carries magic."

"Yes, this is the Midgardian Sorcerer, Anthony Stark of Midgard," the green-eyed god introduced Tony to Freyr, "Stark, this is King Freyr of Vanaheim. I will be back; I must retrieve my magic."

Loki left the two with a look toward Freyr, closing the bedroom door behind him. Freyr turned to Tony with a smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Stark. I had wondered what Loki was doing locked up in his house all day and night. I thank you for healing him."

"Wait, how did you know I healed him? Did you know he was sick?" the King nodded carefully, "Oh. Hey, you're Loki's seithr magic teacher, right?"

"Indeed I am. I came here to check up on him since he has not visited me in a little while." Tony slouched slightly in his seat, "No need to feel guilty, Stark, I rather him teach you than learn seithr magic. It seems as if teaching you has healed him more than learning a new form of magic."

Tony frowned as he sat up in his seat, "I don't want Loki to be tied to me in that manner. I don't want to interrupt his teachings, I mean, that's more important, right?"

"It seems not since he gladly skips them to teach you." Tony wasn't sure whether he was blushing or not.

"I almost indirectly killed him, King Freyr. He was almost dead when I came here; he had to separate himself from his magic in order to heal," the man looked away from the blonde king with dark eyes, "I don't want that to happen again."

"I am a strong god, Stark. Once is one time too many," Tony looked up and smiled slightly at Loki in the doorway, dressed in his usual Asgardian armor, "Freyr, you came here for more than just checking up on me. How long have you known of Stark's visits?"

"Just now. I did not know you were teaching anyone." Loki scowled as the King stood up from his kneeling position, "I will leave you to your teachings though. It is rude of me to interrupt such happenings."

Green eyes narrowed at Freyr as the King smirked slightly, walking toward the door. Loki moved out of the doorway, a hand on Freyr's shoulder, "I will return to you once I am confident in Stark's abilities. Until then, may we meet again."

The two gods stared into each other's eyes and the older one nodded with a pat of Loki's back before leaving Tony's sight. Loki watched the blonde man leave with a small smile. "So, you're not confident in my abilities?"

"Of course not. I gave you my elskath, but I still worry and distrust you a bit. No worries though, that feeling shall pass once I feel more confident in your magic. After all, it is exactly like mine," the god brushed his hair from his face and cast a spell, which styled it into a ponytail. "I am still ill and weak, so I will not perform any magic. For now, you will tell me all the formulas I had you memorize our last meeting."

"Maybe I shouldn't have healed your ass," Tony grumbled as he grabbed a couple of the books he had placed on the bedside table. Loki laughed his genuine laugh that had become more common as they grew closer. Tony still liked it and told Loki that a week or so back, which made the god stop doing so as best he could.

In fact, after Loki laughed, his face grew a bit red and he glared at Tony as the man opened his books. Tony himself donned a short smile as he flipped through the pages, spotting Loki sit down on his bed beside the chair Tony was sitting in. "Come sit so I can read the book as well, Stark. I need to make sure you're learning this correctly if we want best results."

Well, that was a first. Usually Loki would hover over Tony's shoulder to read the text. It made sense though, Loki's request. He was sick after all and need to lay down. Tony shrugged nonchalantly and climbed onto the bed, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the god, who was sipping tea from a mug, brow furrowed as he read from the book. Loki completely ignored Tony, which was fine with the man as he read aloud the text, speaking the formulas and equations that accompanied the few pictures.

Tony liked this though, this odd physical closeness with Loki. They had gotten closer emotionally and mentally, but physically, they were still at a stand off. It was sort of weird sitting in bed reading a magic book with the god who had tried to kill him a few months back, but Tony enjoyed it all the same. Loki wouldn't kill him, not yet at least, and when that time came, Tony would be prepared. He hated to think about the situation this way, especially since he and Loki were sort of becoming friends now, but Tony needed to be prepared for if Loki decided enough was enough and decided to stab him in the back (literally or figuratively).

"That's good, Stark," Loki nodded with approval after Tony spoke, "now just make sure you use the correct formula because if you use the formula for conjuration when you mean to-!"

"What is it?" Tony asked, staring at Loki, who suddenly froze, blank eyes staring ahead at the fireplace.

"It is Thor," the god whispered, closing his eyes as he placed his fingers on his temples. Loki climbed out of the bed, tossing the book to the side as he paced, arms crossed angrily. "The blasted fool is trying to contact me once more. He seems much stronger than before; no, the bond itself is stronger. Even if I find a way to destroy it, I do not know if my magic will be able to overpower the bond."

"Maybe that's a good thing?"

The glare Tony received said not, "I barely have the strength to block him off now. Another attempt and he will manage to get another conversation out of me."

"Then let him speak. It's obvious he wants to talk. The bond can't be destroyed now, so why not just let him talk to you? You don't have to tell him where you are."

"True, but he can track my trace if he wishes, or ask Frigga to do so. He will find my seithr magic trace and find me and-" the god gritted his teeth as a growl of frustration escaped from his lips, "Thor can not know where I am. I can not let him feel my new trace at all."

"Can he feel your Jotun magic trace?" Loki froze, turning slowly to stare at Tony, eyes narrowed as a snarl formed on his lips.

"Do you think I would use that magic?" the god spat angrily, "I have not used it recently and I am sure he knows that trace as well, wait no, he does not. I used Aesir magic back when I ruled Asgard."

"So, are you gonna use it?"

Loki bit his bottom lip, staring at the wooden floor beneath him. He closed his eyes quickly and then shook his head, deflating like a balloon. "I must change forms to use it and the Vanir have easy ways to trace a Jotun magic trace. I would be caught immediately."

"Then speak with Thor, Loki. There's a reason why the bond has come back. Maybe you miss him more than you think."

Loki ignored Tony with an exasperated sigh and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. Tony sighed and climbed out of the bed, following Loki to the main room where he sat down, arms crossed on the table with his chin resting on his arms. The mortal sorcerer stood beside Loki as the god took a few deep breaths, fists clenched on the table. "I will send you home early today, Stark. I will grow weak from sending you back and Thor will be able to contact me." Green eyes looked up into brown and Tony brushed a strand of hair from the god's face, "Go get your books and only when you are ready to leave do you come here."

"I might not come back to you then," Tony pointed out, turning his back on Loki, who snorted.

"You amuse me, Stark, but hurry your pace. You may want to stay, but I want you gone."

"Don't hurt me with such painful words, Loki," the man teased before he entered the bedroom, not bothering to wait for Loki's reaction.

He grabbed the books with a bit of disappoint, sad that the lesson had to be cut short. He and Loki did bond a bit more at least, and he did memorize some more formulas during the lesson. It was one of the better lessons for sure. Still, it felt like something was missing. The classic mistake one of them would make that would cause Loki to throw up fire (or for Tony to get a boner, but he liked to ignore that fact). "Alright," he said, books in hand at Loki's side. The god looked up and waved a hand, strands of green dressing Tony in his usual clothing.

"I will see you tomorrow, Stark,"

"No, you rest." the trickster god froze. "Don't mind speak with me until you know you can teleport me here and not get sicker."

"That may take months."

"Then you better make sure it doesn't."

Loki's lips curled into a smirk as he stood up, shaking his head. Tony raised an eyebrow and froze as Loki's lips brushed his temple, "You truly are something, aren't you, Stark?"

Before Tony could reply, he was washed in a wave of green and the images of teleportation colored his vision. He could still feel Loki's lips against the side of his head and he pondered the reasons for such action. Why did Loki do that? Was that the Asgardian way to show friendship or something? No, that couldn't be it or Thor would be kissing the Avenger's temples non stop. What was Loki trying to communicate by doing that? Affection?

Tony landed in his lab, wobbly on his feet as the green of Loki's magic melted into the air, going back to Loki where it belonged. The sorcerer placed his books on the nearest table and went upstairs, determined to find Thor and listen in on the conversation the god was having with Loki. When he got upstairs, he spotted Steve and Thor by the window chatting quietly amongst themselves as the lights of New York glistened against the black night sky. Tony raised an eyebrow, but stayed in the shadows as Thor perked and turned toward Steve with wide blue eyes.

"He has spoken," the blonde god said, a smile on his lips. Steve mirrored one right back, patting the god's arm, "Loki, why is it you speak to me now? What has changed your view on this new bond we now share?" Tony could just imagine Loki's response to that, "Sick? Brother, why are you-I will always call you my brother, Loki. That will never change. I know, but-why do you protest like so? Heed your yelling, you are sick. I may wish to see you and contact you all the time like this, but I would rather do so on your own will and not force you to reply because you do not have the strength to hold me back."

Thor turned from the window and started walking toward the couch, motioning for Steve to follow him. The blonde captain raised a carefully arched eyebrow, but followed Thor, sitting down beside the god, "Tell me, when will you heal? Months? You must be extremely ill, Loki. If you tell Frigga, then perhaps she will find a way to-hurt her? What bad things, Loki? Why would it harm Mother to tell her of your whereabouts?"

Thor's eyes suddenly softened, and a small _oh_ slipped from his lips. Steve frowned beside the god and Tony raised an eyebrow from behind the wall. "Loki, you-" blue eyes turned to Steve with a deflated look, "Loki is mortally ill and the only reason why I am able to talk to him is because he can not hold me back. Also, he will not tell me or Frigga of his whereabouts because it will hurt us. Bad things will happen if we know where he is."

"Knew it. He's in on this whole disappearing villains thing." Steve gritted his teeth as he stood up, "Loki may not be leading it, but he's definitely in on it and doesn't want you or his mom in on the mix."

"He still cares for us enough to wish us away from him." Tony smiled at the sound of hope in Thor's voice. Loki wasn't in on anything, in fact, Tony was the one who was in on something. Hey, did Thor know anything about the whole Midgard Sorcerer prophecy or did just Frigga, Fulla, Gna, Hlin, Eir, Loki, and him know?

"Can you ask him what the bad things are?" Thor shook his head. "He hung up on you then. I'm guessing you won't contact him while he's this ill." Thor nodded his head at that. "It's fine, I guess. I understand why you wouldn't, but we can't wait months for more information from Loki. If he's a part of this villain group up, he will attack soon enough. This whole sick thing could be a hoax."

"It is not," the god replied, looking up at Steve with narrowed eyes, "I know what Loki is like when he is ill. I may not see him face to face, but I can hear it in his voice. It is not fake at all."

Steve frowned slightly, arms crossed as Thor stood up, slouching with a bit of defeat. The blonde soldier watched Thor with sad eyes, the god himself walking in the direction Tony was in. Steve sighed heavily before he stopped Thor in his tracks, his hands grasping the blonde god's arms. "Thor, I know he's your brother and you worry about him like a brother should, but don't hang yourself up over him, okay? You have people here who care about you and worry for you. We all want Loki locked up, no doubt about it, but-"

"I understand, Rogers," Thor smiled slightly, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder, "I understand what you wish to say."

With that, Thor left the room, completely missing Tony, who was pressed up against the wall in silence, careful not to let the god know he was eavesdropping. Once Thor was out of sight, Tony turned the corner fully and found Steve there back by the window.

"Hello there, Captain," he said cheerily, watching Steve roll his eyes but turn toward him with a smile, "The view is sort of nice. I like pitch blackness and city lights. It's enjoyable."

"Yes, New York is really beautiful at night," Steve hummed slightly before he turned his back to the view, "Thor spoke with Loki. We think Loki's in on the villain thing."

"No surprise. Loki is a villain after all."

"Are you sure your arc reactor's okay?" Tony looked down at the blue device with a smile, feeling the slight hum of his magic.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I've got nothing to worry about on that matter. We just need to be prepared for these villains then."

"Yeah, we do."

Tony stood there and continued to stare out the window after Steve patted his back and left the room. Loki wasn't in on the villain mashup, Loki had nothing to do with that. The only thing Loki was focused on was Tony and Tony only. The man smiled slightly at that, pressing his hands against the window. The glass beneath his palms started to glow blue a bit and after a deep breath, it glowed silver, his arc reactor turning sparkly silver as well. Tony felt a pang in the back of his head and chuckled, removing his palms from the cold glass.

**"I know what you spoke to Thor about. I sort of eavesdropped on the conversation."**

_"Why am I not surprised?"_

**"I thought I told you not to mind speak with me until you know you can teleport me over and not get sick."**

_"You did, but I decided not to listen. It's a bad habit I seem to have picked up from someone I have spent too much time with."_

Tony laughed aloud at that, a wide pleasured grin on his lips, **"I'm glad you have enough energy to contact me though. Hey, you never did tell me why you were able to mind speak with me."**

_"I told you already, our magic is identical. I know your magic trace as well as I know my own. Through that connection, that bond, we are able to communicate in such a manner."_

**"So, we do have another bond besides the trust bond."**

_"I know not, Stark. I have yet to find out anything about the connection between our magic other than the fact that it is the same."_

The man traced random shapes on the window pane. **"Well, figure it out soon, okay? I like mind speaking with you, but I sort of want to know why we can when all we share is a trust bond and magic."**

_"Perhaps we share more than what meets the eye."_

Tony froze at that, eyes slightly widened. **"What is that supposed to mean? Do you know something you're not telling me? Did you do something to me when you kissed me?"**

_"Kiss you? I never kissed you. Why I commit an atrocity such as that?"_

**"No, not on the lips, but on my temple before I left."**

_"Oh, that,"_ was it Tony's imagination or could he hear the blush in Loki's voice? _"No, that did nothing to you or me."_

**"Really? So, it was just a show of affection."**

Loki didn't reply to that and Tony found his face heating up a bit. He coughed aloud and stepped away from the window. _"I know not what came over me in that moment; trust me, it won't happen again."_

**"I never said I didn't want it to happen again."** Oh god, what in the world was he saying? **"I mean, well, it was nice. Wait, no, it wasn't! I didn't like it at all! That's not true, I did like it, but not like that! Like as a romantic action or something, no, not romantic at all! I just-"**

_"Shut up, Stark,"_ Loki laughed, his voice ringing through Tony's head, causing the man to silence himself, _"Regardless of whether you liked that show of personal affection, I am not doing so again. I'm your teacher, Stark, that is all."_

Tony's eyes widened even more at that. Holy shit, did Loki just say he thought of being more than Tony's obligatory teacher? Did Loki tell Tony he no longer thought of the man as his enemy? **"Uh, that's fine. Totally fine. I'm just your student after all. You know, teacher-student bond and stuff. Nothing more, nothing less."**

Why did his chest clench slightly as he said he wasn't gonna be anything more to Loki than his student?

_"Exactly,"_ Loki's voice sounded too hollow and empty, _"I must leave you be, Stark, I need my rest. The next time we speak, I will be well enough to teleport you over with no addition to my illness."_

**"Oh, okay. Well, goodnight, Loki."**

There was silence on the other end before Loki spoke. _"Goodnight, Anthony."_

Tony could hear the slight smile in the god's voice before the conversation ended and he could no longer feel the slight pang of Loki using magic. The man pressed his palms back to the window and looked up at the sky, watching the stars twinkle in the night. He let a smile dance on his lips as Loki's last words echoed through his head. The glass glowed blue beneath his hands and he pulled away, blue sparks of magic resting in his palms.

"What is happening to us?" he asked to the air, extinguishing the blue magic from his hands. "Why do I want more?"

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Well, someone knows they want a little more than friendship out of this ;D Tomorrow or Saturday I will post chapter 7 for you guys! Until then!~


	7. Broken

**Fiona12690:** It was your birthday! Aww, happy birthday! And thanks for the spelling error, I hadn't noticed that (it gets tiring at times rereading my work xD)! I fixed it up though and feel free to tell me if you see anymore! Thanks so much for the review! I plan on there being quite a bit left to go with this story! I thank you for the compliments and thank you for reading this 3

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**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 7:** _Broken_

Rating: T

Length: 7,221 words

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: Loki heals up a bit, only for it all to come tumbling down.

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_"Stark,"_

Tony perked immediately at that familiar voice, sitting up in his chair as all the Avengers sat around discussing work over a "family" dinner. Steve and Clint turned toward him with mixed expressions and soon enough, all the Avengers were staring at him as a huge smile grew on his face.

**"You're back,"** he replied, not noticing the looks his friends were giving him, **"So, can you bring me up at midnight like usual?"**

_"Yes, I seem to have healed from the worst of the illness,"_ Loki certainly sounded like it. His voice was no longer as scratchy,_"Freyr has shown me a few tricks so such illness does not strike me again."_

**"Wonderful."** Tony finally noticed the looks he was receiving and wondered if he had spoken aloud. "Uh, Thor, has Loki spoken to you recently?"

_"STARK, I SWEAR TO THE NORNS, IF YOU DARE PROVOKE THOR TO CONTACT ME I WILL DEGUT YOU AND FEED YOUR BLASTED BLOODY INSIDES TO FENRIR AND MAKE SURE YOUR DAMNED SOUL LIVES ON IN HELHEIMR."  
_  
"No, I have yet to contact him. Loki said it would take months before he fully heals. I will wait at least one." the blonde god nodded with his words, then froze, confusion striking him, "Why is it you ask, Stark?"

"No reason really. He just popped into my head since we were on the topic of SHIELD training." Tony shrugged with the half-lie (after all, Loki did pop into his head, his voice at least), relaxing into his seat.

"I will immediately alert you all to any news I receive of my brother when I contact him. Our bond is much stronger now, I highly doubt he will be able to hold me back, even while at full strength."

Great, more irritated Loki for Tony.

"That's great news. Can't wait to hear what he's been up to-holy shit, what are you doing here?"

Everyone turned at Tony's gasp, following the man's gaze. Eir stood in the doorway, blonde hair falling in waves down her head as purple eyes stared at the troop of Avengers. Thor stood up quickly, blue eyes bright with joy before he ran to her side, taking the goddess into a big hug. Eir protested, but hugged the thunder god back.

"It has been a while since we have been to battle together, Thor," she said calmly once Thor pulled away, "I can almost say I miss your method of fighting. Swinging that hammer of yours around like a toy."

"Eir, why is it you are here at Stark tower?" Thor asked, holding her hands in his own. Tony frowned with suspicion. Was he supposed to report to Frigga? Then wouldn't Gna come down for that?

"I came to ask you of the whereabouts of your brother," Tony did not miss those purple eyes as they gave him a quick glance, "Frigga tells me you have contacted him recently."

"Yes, I have," the blonde god frowned slightly as well. Steve looked between Tony and Thor with a raised eyebrow and Natasha crossed her arms as she leaned back in her seat. "Why did Gna not come here to tell me such a message? There is something more, correct?"

"Fulla wishes to speak to you."

Thor paled at that, which startled all the Avengers. Never had they seen Thor pale in such the manner that he did. Tony raised an eyebrow; why was Thor so freaked out about seeing Fulla? She was Frigga's sister and that Tony had seen of her, she was pretty nice and all. Fulla was sending a few extra glares toward Loki when he arrived, but everyone was at that moment.

"What is it she does not wish for Frigga to know?" Thor asked once some color flooded his face. He was still eerily pale and his voice was a little off. Almost scared in a way. Fearful of the answer he might receive asking such a question.

"I know not, if there is anything at all. You have not been to Asgard in a while, Odinson. Do you not think it would be appropriate to spend more time with your kin and fellow gods and goddesses?" Thor bowed his head slightly and Eir placed a small dainty hand on his shoulder. "You do know that you must report your interactions with your brother to Odin at least. Loki is a criminal and he may be a part of this odd disappearance of our enemies. He is of Jotunheim after all; perhaps he is in hiding with them. They have not been on the radar as of recent."

"Loki would do no such thing, Lady Eir," the blonde god stiffened slightly, blue eyes slightly narrowed at the Viking armor donned goddess, "I know my brother well even though I have seen a side of him I wish no one, not even I, would ever have to see. It may be past him for redemption and I want him locked away and out of trouble just as much as you and all of Asgard, but Loki, the old Loki, is still in there, I know it."

"Try telling that to Fulla," the goddess rolled her eyes before looking over the Avengers, who were gaping in their seats. "And these are the brave warriors who stopped your brother, correct?"

"Indeed. Together, we are the Avengers." Thor beamed as he motioned to his friends. Tony waved slightly and Eir nodded in response.

"I thank you for stopping Loki from completing his goal, Avengers. Asgard is very much apologetic for this atrocity."

"Hey, it's no biggy," Tony waved a passing hand with a snort, "We're sort of over it now. Well, as long as we don't have to see him again."

Eir brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face as she stared at Tony, who was feeling a bit uncomfortable under her hardened gaze. He wondered if she wanted to talk to him. After all, she knew he was very much in constant contact with Loki, being his student and all. "You are the Merchant of Death, Anthony Edward Stark. Am I correct?"

Tony frowned slightly, wondering what she was getting at. "Yeah, but I don't go by that name anymore. I prefer the name Iron Man."

"My apologies then, Man of Iron." Tony sighed; looked like it was an Asgardian thing to call him that, not a Thor defect. "We thank you graciously for the bomb that destroyed the mother ship of the Chitauri. In fact, Odin would wish to congratulate you for your efforts and your bravery."

"Oh, so unfair! I shot that arrow in Loki's face that exploded and made him fall from the sky! Why don't I get any credit?"

"Legolas, stop being a show off." Tony replied, grinning as Clint glared at him, arms crossed with annoyance. "I appreciate the kind words but I think all of us should-"

"He only wants you, Stark."

Eir's voice grew cold and dangerous, her right eye twitching slightly. Tony could feel her magic grow irritated and he shut his mouth quickly. "Alright then. Just me. Let's go then; we wouldn't want to keep Odin waiting now, would we?"

Tony climbed out of his seat and walked over to the two Asgardians, Thor who was looking at him suspiciously. The man sent a smile the god's way before he was once more treated to the glorious feeling of Bifrost teleportation. Once the three arrived at the Bifrost, Thor turned to Tony, who was on his knees again, Heimdall smirking down at him.

"Are you well, Stark?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I will never get used to that, damn it." he grumbled, clutching his lurching stomach as his head continued to spin.

"Excuse me?" Tony froze for a split second as he recalled his words.

"I said I will never get used to that. You know, if I ever end up coming here again, travel via Bifrost will never be something I'll get used to." Tony noticed Eir's gaze on him as he stood up weakly.

"Thor, Fulla awaits you in her chambers," the thunder god stiffened and went pale once more, "I will walk Stark to Odin in his hall. We will meet to return Stark to Midgard when I come to you, understand? I believe your aunt has much to speak to you about."

"Aunt Fulla," Thor groaned, obviously not looking forward to this meeting. It rung a few bells in Tony's head, but he ignored them. He could ask Eir for more info or even Loki if need be.

Once Thor was past the gates of Asgard, Eir turned on Tony with bright purple eyes and the most joyous look Tony had ever seen on her face. "Uh, what is it?" he asked, completely confused. He was only thrown into more confusion as the goddess hugged him.

"I have heard of you and Loki from Freyr. Gna and Hlin know as well." Eir pulled away, holding the man by his shoulders. "You are learning well. At this rate, you can start searching for the missing villains and figure out what is happening. Ragnarok approaches and we must be prepared for it."

"Quick question, does Loki know that Baldr is dead and that Ragnarok is coming?" the goddess shook her head as they walked toward the gates of Asgard, "So, he has no idea that he is training me for Ragnarok."

"None at all and he will not know, understand?"

"Why can't he know? The Midgardian Sorcerer is a legend; he told me himself that he thought a Midgardain Sorcerer was just a story told to him when he was younger."

"Yes, there are mentions of a Midgardian Sorcerer in many tales throughout Asgard. We have only told you of the one of Ragnarok." Tony grinned to himself as they passed through the gates, walking down the cobblestoned streets of Asgard, "Loki may tell you more if you wish. He was very interested in such a thing as a little boy. He has always been interested in magic."

"Loki interested in the Midgardian Sorcerer." the man nodded with acceptance. "I will have to ask him to share some stories. Give me a sec."

Eir turned to Tony with a raised eyebrow as the man ceased walking and focused on his magic. He had never been the one to start a mind speak conversation and he was sort of excited to see what would happen. Loki never told him how to do it and he never asked since he never expected to speak with Loki outside of the lessons.

Tony closed his eyes as he felt the buzzing energy of his magic inside and around him. He thought about Loki's magic, recalled that beautiful melodic hum and sang it lightly under his breath. He recalled those gentle swirls of green and that soft feeling of Loki's magic against his skin. He could almost imagine it right next him, the god showing him how to heal and how to use destruction magic. Those warm hands against his own, that hot breath against his ear. That moment where they _hugr_ and almost kis-

_"Stark,"_

Wow, that sounded close. Even closer than Loki being in his head.

**"Loki,"** he replied, opening his eyes slightly. Eir was in front of him with an unamused look, arms crossed with slight annoyance. "What are you looking at me like that for? I was mind speaking, thank you very much."

"That was no mind speaking you idiot!" What the Helheimr did he do? Loki wasn't usually in his ear like this-wait.

Tony turned around and found himself face to face with an irritated Loki, who had a spoon in his right hand as he donned a blue shirt and gray pants along with his classic black boots and his long leather jacket. Those green eyes were flaming with anger and spoke volumes at how pissed Loki was. Tony took a step back warily, plastering on a fake smile.

"That wasn't supposed to happen. Why are you here?" Eir snorted and continued on her way, leaving an angry (possibly homicidal) Loki and a confused Tony in the middle of town. "And do you have a glamour because I'm pretty sure if anyone sees you, you'll be locked up again."

"Yes, I have a glamour, but that is beside the point! You teleported me here!" Loki growled, pointing his spoon at Tony in a manner that made the wooden utensil seem extremely dangerous. "Trust me, I would not be here in Asgard like this if it was on my own will."

"Teleport? Wait, how did I do that? I just thought about your magic." No way would he tell Loki he also thought of Loki beyond his magic. "I was trying to mind speak to ask you about the legends of the Midgardian Sorcerer."

"Do not mess with my magic again, Stark," the god hissed before taking a deep breath, closing his green eyes in the process. "You are lucky you were in Asgard when you pulled that trick. If you were back on Midgard, you would have died."

"Died?" Man, Tony was glad he never acted on his impulses to start up a mind speak conversation with Loki. "Why?"

"The magic of Ginnungagap is weak around Midgard. It feeds on the magic of the nearby world and Midgard carries none. Therefore, it takes more magic to travel from Midgard to a different world, verses traveling from Asgard to Vanaheim. That is also the reason why teleportation on Midgard to another spot on Midgard causes one to see Ginnungagap." Loki was fully invested in his explanation, eyes twinkling with pleasure as he spoke to Tony. Tony smiled warmly; he liked that he could do that to Loki. Wait, what. "When a sorcerer is on Midgard, his magic weakens. One's magic also feeds on the magic of Ginnungagap. Teleportation though allows the sorcerer to reacquaint himself with pure magic easily found in Ginnungagap, strengthening his own and healing it if necessary. Hence why it feels like teleportation takes a long time. When you see those swirls of color, it is your magic reacquainting itself with pure magic."

"Magic can deteriorate?"

"Only on Midgard." the god's eyes glazed over as if remembering something. Loki shook his head though and sighed, "You would've died because of the magic necessary to teleport me over. Your magic is weak from being away from a magical world such as Vanaheim for so long. With no Ginnungagap to self-heal or strengthen it, your magic would have killed you since your magical charge and magic usage is quite low for the amount needed to perform such a task on Midgard."

"Damn," Tony said softly, not feeling too fuzzy anymore. Loki laughed lightly, a semi-rare genuine laugh, and immediately blushed after, turning from Tony as he stormed down the road. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I am going to see Frigga since we are here. I feel we should report your progress to her." Loki paused in his steps and turned as Tony ran after him. "Do not try such a thing again, understand? You can not die before I teach you what you wish to know."

"And what is it I wish to know?"

A smirk crawled onto Loki's lips before he looked away and continued walking. "A way to defeat me."

"What?" Tony was surprised at how hollow his voice was. He had completely forgotten that he had agreed to this crazy deal because he wanted a way to defeat Loki if the god joined up with the rogue villains for Ragnarok.

Somehow, he had thought that Loki being his teacher meant the god wasn't going to be on the opposing side, but Loki just made it clear he taught Tony with the intent of battling the man and getting defeated.

"Wait, Loki," the man stopped the god in his tracks, "Do you want me to kill you?"

"Do you want to kill me?"

"No! Not anymore! I mean, I never wanted you _dead_ in the first place, just locked up and away from society." Tony averted his eyes from Loki's as he spoke, "and while it's nice to get you biggest weakness out of you firsthand, I don't want it to kill _you."_

Tony cut himself off there; he had almost mentioned the whole Ragnarok deal.

"Then why did you agree to the deal in the first place if we are enemies, Stark?"

"We are not enemies and as much as you may like to tell yourself otherwise, you know what we have is no longer a obligatory pact forced upon us in order for me to learn magic." Tony had a threatening finger in the Loki's face as he glared up at the god before him, "Damn me if I say it, but we might even be friends at this point. After all, you seemed pretty willing to shower me with your affections last we met."

Loki's eyes turned steely and angry at that as he looked down at Tony, a snarl on his lips. "I did not shower you with my affections, Stark. I was weak and vulnerable and you took advantage of that."

"Me? _I_ took advantage of _you_ being sick? I healed your ass, may have possibly saved it as well! I have no need to take advantage of anything you have to offer, which, by the way, hasn't been much but your knowledge of magic!"

"If you claim us to be friends like you do, then I have offered that as well!"

They were yelling now, Tony almost on his toes as he yelled in Loki's face, fists clenched angrily at his sides. Could this be considered their first fight? Not saying they were a couple, pssh, no... "Oh yeah sure, Loki offered up his friendship to me. You don't even think us as friends, so don't go around shoving that in my face! You said so yourself, you are my teacher and I am your student and that is all we are ever going to be to each other so get over yourself!"

"Get over myself?" Loki exclaimed, a horrified look on his face. _"You're_ the one who proposed us no longer being enemies, proposed us being_ friends._ I am simply doing my job here and that is all I will do. Once I have taught you all you need to accomplish your goal, I will return to Freyr and get away from Asgard once and for all!"

"My goal is not what you think it is, Loki," Tony started, toning his voice down a bit once he spotted a couple people staring at the two with raised eyebrows. "It's like what Frigga said; this isn't about you anymore. You're not teaching me for your own benefit, whatever twisted one it may be. This is even bigger than me being the Midgardian Sorcerer."

"I don't give a damn that I'm teaching the legend I thought untrue. This has never been for me, Stark, it has been for Frigga, for my _mother!"_ Loki's voice cracked on the last word and it almost made Tony back off, "I may be self-centered, but not as much as you present yourself as. If this were for me, you would not be my student. Alas, you are my student and I begrudgingly teach you, do not forget that."

"Oh sorry I forgot then; it's sort of hard not to when I see you actually enjoying yourself every fucking lesson!"

_"I am not!"_

"Okay, maybe not the first two lessons, but don't lie and say you haven't been enjoying this. Don't lie to me and say you haven't had fun teaching someone, even if is your, quote unquote, enemy. Teaching is your love, is it not? I recall Frigga saying something about you wanting to teach the nine worlds of magic." Loki growled at that last part, which made Tony smirk, "You love teaching me, you can't deny that."

"I love teaching, but I do not love teaching _you,"_ Loki spat out the last word with venom and an edge of fright. His last phrase was tainted with lack of conviction as if he didn't really believe that he didn't love teaching Tony, "I will never be able to do so, not even with the discoveries of our magic and our connection and-"

"Why can't you do that?"

Loki's eyes actually softened slightly before they closed and he turned his head sideways a bit, bottom lip clenched between his teeth. "My fate in Ragnarok tells me why. I was born to lead the final battle of Asgard. Odin and Frigga think I know not of this, but I do. It is fitting though; a frost giant leading an army of frost giants and Helheim dead to defeat Asgard. They say Heimdall will kill me."

"Ragnarok can be stopped." Tony whispered lightly, watching Loki shake his head in a defeated manner.

"Once Baldr falls, it all begins, Stark. I know how to kill him, they say I am to kill him too, but he is my brother, the one brother who was truly close to me; I can't ever kill him and I won't!"

Horrible, horrible feelings of guilt and horror and ever single disgusting emotion possible ran through Tony at Loki's words. _He didn't know. _Loki didn't know Baldr was dead. Loki didn't know he killed Baldr. Loki was truly ignorant of Ragnarok and its happenings. And Frigga and Gna and Hlin and Fulla and Eir knew that. Were they ever going to tell him? Or did they think they could hide it since they thought he didn't know of his fate in Ragnarok?

"Loki, Ragnarok can be stopped! I know it can! You can feel free to love anything you want. You won't be betraying anyone because _it won't happen."_

Loki opened his eyes, dark and wet with unshed tears. "Stark, Ragnarok is inevitable."

"Not since I'm here." the look of utter shock on Loki's face made him grin and continue even as he heard Eir's reminder in the back of his head. "I can stop it. That's what I'm here to do. That's why you're teaching me. I need your help to do this so you won't have to betray those you love."

"Stop spewing lies; I don't know what Thor has drilled into your head about-"

Loki was cut off as Tony grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pressed their foreheads together. "I speak the truth, Loki. That is why Frigga wanted you to teach me so bad. She wants you to stop Ragnarok, Loki. Only you can."

"No," the god muttered, pulling away from Tony, "No, what did I do?"

"What?" Tony crinkled his brow as he grew confused and Loki stepped away from him, shaking his head with horror.

"How did he die?_ How did I kill him?"_

Loki's cry of anguish almost brought tears to Tony's eyes as he reached out for the god who shook his head one last time before leaving in a swirl of green. Tony grit his teeth and quickly acknowledged that pang he felt in the back of his head at Loki's departure, feeling a rush of bottled up emotion that saddened him more.

**"Loki,"**

_"Leave me alone, Stark."_

**"Now is not the time for one of your legendary tantrums; we need to report to Frigga."**

_"Go by yourself, Stark, I am in no mood to see you or anyone else. Also, Thor is here in Asgard, I can feel it."  
_  
Tony groaned aloud. **"I don't know how to get there."**

_"Are you an idiot? There is a large golden palace up ahead. Walk yourself toward it and ask a guard for further directions, Stark."_

Tony sighed as he walked toward the golden palace. **"Look, I'm sorry about Baldr and all, but I'm serious here, Loki. You can't shut me off now, not when we've. . ."**

_"Not when we've what?"_

Tony continued his silence for a little while longer before he spoke, **"Not when we've made improvement to my magic skills. We made a trust bond, Loki, a teacher-student trust bond. I know it's a weak bond compared to others, but we've changed that. I mean, c'mon, we're mind speaking and just a moment ago, I felt your emotions!"  
**  
_"Oh no,"_ Loki whispered lightly, _"No, no, this can not be happening."_

**"What can't be happening? Loki, speak to me!"  
**  
_"This no longer pertains to our duplicate magic, Stark, no, this is more than that. There is no more teacher-student bond. We destroyed that long ago it seems."_

**"What do you mean?"**

_"Stark, something has changed the bond between us. Something between us has happened, I'm not sure what, but we are emotionally bonded. Trust between us is a given now."_

Tony's world literally fell out from under him as he stopped in his tracks. He could barely breath or feel anything, everything was numb. His eyes went slightly out of focus and a choked noise sputtered out of his mouth. His hands were shaking and his breath was rough and shaky once he started breathing again.

It had been three weeks since Loki's illness. Three weeks Tony had to contemplate what was happening between him and Loki. Why he wanted more out of this weird friendship alliance thing he had developed with the god. He had yet to come up with an answer but now, in that moment after Loki's words, he knew why.

"I want more than trust from you," he whispered aloud, "I want more than trust and simple friendship, but what more can you give?"

_Love._

"Oh hell no," Tony exclaimed, shaking his head quickly as blush stained his cheeks. No way possible was he wanting Loki's love.**"What type of bond is this then? What bond do we share?"**

_"A form of a friendship bond, but more intimate."_ Tony choked, _"It is basically a crude lover's bond."_

**"You best be getting your bonds wrong."**

_"I am not sure what it is exactly, I need to analyze it more, but at first glance, we have a crude lover's bond."_

**"I am disgusted. Destroy it."**

_"I can not. I am not the one who broke the teacher-student bond."_

Tony's heart skipped a beat at those words, **"Uh, I didn't do that. I don't know how to break a bond. How do you even know I was the one who broke the bond?"**

_"Your magic trace says so. I can not find the source of it to sever the bond so you will have to do so yourself." _

**"Who said I wanted to?"** Sometimes, Tony really needed to shut his mouth.

_"Go to Frigga, Stark, and destroy the bond. I wish not to hear from you until then and do not teleport me over or I will kill you."_

**"Alright, alright, chill out. I'll chat with Frigga, inform her of what's going and then you have to teleport me to your place for a lesson."**

Loki agreed with a curt affirmation and ended the call as Tony reached the palace gates and got entrance. He asked a guard where Frigga's chambers were and the guard ended up being a really good guard because he immediately went into defense mode and tried to kick Tony's ass.

"Hey, hey, hold up, I know her!" Tony exclaimed as the guard pointed his spear at Tony's arc reactor. "We're good friends; I fight in an army with her son. Her eldest, Thor! You know, the golden prince with the hammer?"

"You are friend in arms with Prince Thor?" the guard lowered his weapon and Tony sighed.

"Yes and I'm supposed to report to Frigga about some important business and stuff about things happening on Earth." the guard crinkled his brow on the last word and Tony rolled his eyes. "Midgard. I live there."

"A mortal here in Asgard?"

"Yes, now can you please just-"

"Friend Anthony!"

Oh great. Tony turned with a smile as Thor came bounding down the hall, a woman with thick wavy black hair by his side. The goddess had on a scowl and her blue eyes were narrowed dangerously at Tony. Ah, Fulla, Frigga's sister. "Thor, Fulla! How nice it is to see you two!"

"Have you spoken with the All-Father yet?" Thor asked once he approached the brunette, who shook his head.

"Nah, I was on my way over. Eir disappeared, so I had to wander my way here."

"Mortal, you asked me about Frigga's-" Tony nudged the guard with gritted teeth, causing the man to shut up.

"Eir told me she would bring you here." Fulla said, arms crossed against her chest. She was donned in Viking wear like Eir was. Huh, was Fulla a warrior too? All Frigga told him was that Fulla was her sister.

"Yeah, news travels fast, huh?" Tony chuckled lightly, but Fulla was not amused. "So, can you take me to Odin then? I'd hate to be here any longer than necessary; my friends are all jealous of the honor I have to meet Odin and they're probably waiting for me."

"I will take you to him." the black-haired goddess turned to Thor, who immediately stiffened, "Thor, we have spoken and you may return to Midgard as you please. I will send Stark down once Odin has finished speaking with him."

Thor opened his mouth to protest, probably something about Eir having said that she wanted Thor and Tony to return to Midgard together, but he shut quickly and nodded before leaving the guard, Fulla and Tony in the hallway.

"Lady Fulla," the guard said as he bowed down to her.

"Get on your feet and let no one know that you have seen this mortal here." the guard did as told and so Fulla took Tony's arm and lead him away. "You were not called for, Stark."

"Eir told me Odin wished to speak." the mortal sorcerer replied, a little confused. "And so since I'm here, I decided to report to Frigga. It's been over a month since I've seen her, almost two. I think she deserves to know how I've been improving and all."

Fulla growled slightly before stopping Tony in his tracks, turning to face him. "Frigga consults me when she is to make a decision. I have helped her with the biggest decisions of her life, but this, this decision of letting you be taught by that Jotun son of hers is the worst one yet."

"What?"

"Do not disappoint, Stark. You have one job and that is to stop Ragnarok. Do not let anything else get in the way of that." Fulla spat angrily, blue eyes narrowed at Tony. He felt incredibly small and suddenly understood why Thor acted the way he did near or at the mention of her.

"What do you mean? I've been learning from Loki like she wanted me to; my magic is stable, Loki says I learn quickly. He also said that-"

"I do not care what Loki has to say about your skills with magic; his opinion is of no concern to me," Whoa, what the Helheimr did Fulla have against Loki? "I do have my concerns about your opinion toward him."

Tony's face heated up a bit. Did she know about the crude lover's bond or something? Was it that obvious? "My opinion toward him?"

"Do not let Loki get into your head, Stark. There is a reason why he belongs in prison and away from personal contact. He will only end up hurting you in the long run."

The way Fulla said that last sentence rubbed off on Tony in an odd way. She said it like it was from experience. "He knows," Tony replied, locking eyes with the aggravated goddess. "He knows he will end up hurting those close to him, hence why he doesn't want to get close to Asgard again."

"What are you saying, Stark?"

"Loki knows his role in Ragnarok," Fulla paled at that, "He knows what he has been said to do and he's pulling away so he doesn't feel like he's betraying anyone when he does end up playing his role in Ragnarok. Loki also knows he killed Baldr."

"Loki," Fulla whispered, a hand at her mouth. Tony was surprised at the emotion laced in her speech when she said Loki's name. "We must alert Frigga of this immediately; Lokasenna will be occurring soon."

"What is Lokasenna?" Tony asked as he and Fulla ran down the hall, her boots clicking against the hard palace floor.

"Lokasenna is Loki's final spiel of Asgard. It is his final verbal attack of the nine worlds before he is locked up forever." Tony stopped in his tracks as the two turned a corner. Fulla turned to him with a snarl. "Why are you stopping, Stark? Frigga needs to learn of this immediately!"

"I have to go to Loki, I have to calm him down." Tony said, breath quickening as he realized what he needed to do. "When Loki breaks his bond, Ragnarok begins. If he is never locked up in the first place, he doesn't break the bonds. I have to stop him from coming to Asgard to yell at you guys and insult you."

"Stark,"

"It's my first step to stopping Ragnarok, Fulla, I need to do this! Frigga can wait."

Fulla looked like she was going to snap Tony's neck right then and there, but she sighed and waved a hand, gentle swirls of purple seeping from her fingers. "Think of him and you will be there."

"Thank you." Tony nodded and immediately thought of Loki, careful not to think of the god's magic. He felt a rush of emotions, hatred, sadness, loneliness and everything depressing under the sun before he was swathed in purple and yanked from the spot.

A second later, Tony was in Vanaheim in Loki's bedroom, but the god wasn't there. Kyna ran to him, her green eyes full of sadness and worry. Tony patted the dog's head with a sad smile before running out of the room to the kitchen. Still no Loki. Kyna ran toward the front door with a whine and Tony opened it, watching her run outside down the street, a blur of black amongst the quickly gathering crowd.

Wait. A crowd?

Tony ran toward the crowd, one thought in his head. He could feel the gentle hums of magic from the gods and goddesses around him as he shoved through, trying to get to the center of the mass. He felt a familiar pang of magic and broke through the last barrier of Vanirs to find Loki and Freyr in the middle, Loki no longer wearing a glamour. The trickster god was yelling something, Tony wasn't focused on it, and Freyr was pale and silent as he reached for Loki.

"Loki!" Tony cried out, watching those green eyes turn toward him with shock. Freyr turned too as the man ran toward the god, thinking of the possible ways he could calm Loki down. "Loki, don't do this, please, don't do this."

"Don't do what, Stark? Be myself?" Loki snapped back, eyes crazed and wide. Tony stepped back, unsure of what to do now. He mentally reached out for Loki and was ambushed by emotions once more. Emotions so mixed up and combined that he couldn't tell what Loki was feeling anymore.

"This isn't you and you know this!" he replied angrily as Loki snorted. "I know you and you know me, our magic is the same damn it! I did not heal you just for you to turn around and mess up everything! Calm your ass down and listen for once, Loki! I am here to help. I want to help you, so let me do my damn job!"

"Your job? What is this job of yours, Stark?" Loki said incredulously, laughing slightly with his words. Tony's heart ached hearing that sickening laugh. Oh how he wished it was Loki's genuine and loving one. The god opened his mouth to say something, but he was struck in the chest with a hammer and went flying over the crowd, landing on the roof of a nearby house, only to fall right on through the roof.

"Stark," Thor said, running to the man, who was about to run to Loki, "What are you doing here? I thought you were speaking to my father."

"Fulla sent me here."

"It is dangerous here, I recommend you leave and return to Midgard where you will be safe."

"I am not going _anywhere!"_ Tony exclaimed, loosing control of his magic for just a second. Thor's eyes went wide as he stepped away from Tony, who was unaware of the cloud of blue magic he had released.

"Stark, you have magic?" Tony looked at his hands and found them glowing intensely blue.

"Yeah, I do," he said quietly, looking up into Thor's eyes, "Loki's been teaching me."

"You are the Midgardian Sorcerer." Thor gasped as the other gods and goddesses around the two did the same (minus Freyr of course). "And you have been in contact with my brother."

"Yes, I have been. I'm distantly related to you," Thor raised both his eyebrows with surprise. "I carry the blood of Fulla, Gna, Eir and Hlin. I work for Frigga and my job is to be Loki's student."

A flash of gold burst between Freyr and Thor, Frigga taking it's place. Her blue eyes were wide with worry as she turned to Tony, grabbing his hands. "Where is he? Where did he go?"

"He's in that house," Tony said softly, pointing toward the house, "Sorry about everything. I meant to report earlier, but I-"

"I know and I understand. You have been taught well; I can feel it," the goddess smiled at Tony and kissed him on the cheek before running to the house Loki had fallen into. Thor and Tony ran after her, Freyr and the crowd at their heels. "Loki? Loki, sweetie?"

No one responded, but Thor let out a short cry when he found his hammer on a table with no Loki underneath it. Frigga held a hand to her mouth and Freyr placed a hand on her shoulder as Thor grabbed the weapon with a growl. Tony became increasingly confused (isn't no one but Thor able to move the hammer?) until he felt the pang of Loki using his magic and called Loki's name aloud as he called for the god in his head.

No response, although he did feel the hum of Loki's magic, so Loki acknowledged him.

He opened his mouth to say more, but his words turned to a gasp as he suddenly felt an internal snap. That cool hum that would echo through his head when contacting Loki turned into a horrible screech of a dying animal. Everything was out of control for a split second. He couldn't see, hear, talk, breathe, do anything.

Tony collapsed to his knees, a hand at his chest. His heart was pounding in his ears as the gut-wrenching scream quieted down, still ringing in his ears. Tony's eyes were wet with tears that did not fall and he was shaking on his knees, brown hair strewn across his sweaty face as his eyes went in and out of focus. Tony didn't understand what just happened. Everything was fine, well, not fine, but better. This had never happened before. He reached out for Loki again, but felt nothing. There was no source of Loki's magic anymore. No pang, no hum, not anything. He thought about Loki's magic, thought about the god like he had before but nothing happened.

Either Loki died, or he severed the bond. Destroyed their magical bond.

"I can't, I can't-" Tony gasped, bottom lip quivering as he struggled to breathe, "I can't feel him, Frigga."

Tony looked up at the queen, who paled horrifically, looking over at Thor, who had his head down. The blonde god looked over at Tony, who was struggling to his feet, and helped the sorcerer up with a gentle hand.

"My queen!" Everyone turned as an Asgardian guard ran toward the group. "We have found the escaped prisoner, Loki Laufeyson! He is in Odin's banquet hall where the royals of the nine worlds are feasting for the Man of Iron's arrival."

So, Odin wanting to talk to Tony was real. He sort of thought Eir made it up as an excuse for Tony to go up to Asgard.

"We must stop him!" Thor shouted, raising his hammer to the sky. Before anyone could say a word, Thor was gone in a flash of rainbow.

Frigga grabbed Tony and hugged him, burying her face in his neck. He hugged back, trying his best not to cry because yeah, he wasn't crying. Nope, he was not that upset at Loki breaking the bond they had. Nope, no, nada, zilch.

"Tony, you need to stop him," Frigga said when she pulled away and gently cupped Tony's face with her small soft hands. She brushed a tear from his eye as she continued. No, he wasn't crying! "You know him more than I do now and I told you you may have to fight against him."

_But that was only if he didn't agree to teach me,_ Tony's brain supplied, but he pushed that thought to the side.

"Yeah, well, he does deserve an ass-kicking for the whole invasion of Midgard thing. I never did punish him for that. Instead I forgave him for it!" Tony laughed lightly, but it was void of humor and conviction. "Don't worry, I'll stop him, Frigga, and then you can find me a new teacher."

Tony smiled and started to walk away, the crowd moving to create a path for him. "Do you want a new teacher?"

Tony stopped in his tracks at Frigga's words, his fists clenched at his sides as he squeezed his eyes shut. He reopened them and felt his magic flair in his hands. "This isn't about what I want, my queen, it's what I need."

And with that, Tony performed his first ever teleportation spell and landed himself back on Earth.

"Damn it."

* * *

Now you guys are up to date with what I have published. Chapter 8 is almost done though! I feel sort of bad leaving you guys here on this sad note :3 Until next time!~


	8. Lokasenna

**patty cake rocks:** Yes, chapter 6 was absolutely adorable! I loved writing it myself :D I can't wait to return to the fluffy/humorous nature of that chapter and the chapters before it. I also can't wait to go back to expanding my Au because writing angst is draining xD

**giratinashadowforce:** This story will end happy, I promise you that. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ended this story sad. This story will be full of feels though, but it will end happy like "and Tony and Loki lived happily ever after! The end!". I already have it planned out, I just have to write it :)

* * *

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 8:** _Lokasenna_

Rating: T

Length: 8,881 words

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: Lokasenna is here.

* * *

"Avengers!" Tony yelled as he stumbled on his feet, running off the roof. "Jarvis, get me my suit right now!"

"Of course, sir," the AI system replied as the man ran inside the building.

"Steve! Steve!" he shouted, running through the main room to the elevator so he could go up to the super soldier's room.

"Tony?" Tony turned and ran to Steve, grabbing the man's hand. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Come with me and call an Avengers meeting," Tony replied, pulling the blonde with him into the elevator, "We've got a situation up in Asgard concerning Loki."

Steve went straight into soldier mode, pulling out his Starkphone to call the others. By the time the two Avengers got downstairs to the new SHIELD base below Stark Tower, all the others were in a conference room, chatting amongst themselves. Fury looked up from whatever he was glaring at and stared at Tony and Steve as they entered.

"I'm back and so is Loki," Tony announced, a little out of breath and woozy. That teleportation spell took work and energy. How did Loki do it all the time? "He's verbally attacking Asgard right now. Thor is dealing with him right now, but from the looks of it, Loki is a little out there and, you know," Tony made the coo-coo symbol as he sat down. "I got out of the way in enough time, but I think Thor is going to need our help to contain Loki."

"Are there any other villains with him?" Clint asked, quiver of arrows already set on his back.

"No, not that I saw." Tony replied, beginning to pace with worry. "I don't know what's going on, I don't know what's going to happen. All I know is that Loki's completely lost it and he-"

_He cut himself off from me and it hurts so bad._

Tony cut himself off before he finished the sentence. He could not let the others know he could use magic, no, not at all. They might think him compromised or something when he has to tell them Loki had been teaching him.

"How do we get to Asgard though?" Steve asked, bringing Tony back from his thoughts. The inventor stopped pacing and turned to the blonde before looking up at the ceiling.

"Heimdall can bring us." the sorcerer smiled slightly before motioning for his friends to come to him. "Fury, you can sit this one out. I think the sight of you might anger Loki more. Might make him a little full of fury."

The director of SHIELD narrowed his one eye at Tony as he stood. "You're right though, I have bigger problems to deal with than Asgardian shit. But, if you get killed-"  
"That's not an option, so don't mention it."

"Uh, before we go, Tony, you might want your suit," Bruce pointed out kindly, motioning to the suitless Tony.

"Ah, yes, give me a second," Tony ran toward the door and then skidded as he suddenly stopped, "Actually, you guys go up first, I'll be there in a second."

Steve raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something; Tony didn't find out because the group of four were swallowed by a rainbow and out of sight. Tony nodded toward Fury before running up the stairs as fast as his slightly exhausted body could handle. "Jarvis, where's my suit?"

"It is coming, sir."

"Don't tell me I need to go flying through another window for it to come."

"Doing so might help."

"Ha ha, very funny, Jarv," Tony ran up to the roof just in time for his suit to land and he put the armor on, pulling the visor down once situated. "Alright then. Heimdall, beam me up."

Never would Tony ever get used to Bifrost travel.

"Where'd they go?" he asked the Bifrost protector once stable on his feet. It didn't help that Tony was still a little weak from casting that teleportation spell that sent him to the wrong place.

"Your friends were escorted by Prince Thor toward Odin's hall where Loki currently is." Heimdall stared down at Tony with his golden eyes. "Try your best, Stark."

"I am to please."

Tony winked at the god before turning on his thrusters and blasting up into the air with too much force, loosing control of his sense of direction. The man went whirling through the air, crashing through the gates of Asgard in the process. "Holy shit, Jarvis, what is going on?" he exclaimed, as the world spun before him.

"You are overpowering your suit with magic." the AI system replied. Tony cursed inwardly. Looks like he should have made those improvements to his suit. "Also, the suit is rejecting the new source of energy. I am attempting to solve this problem, but your magic is extremely strong, sir."

Tony didn't reply as he went soaring into a building, crashing through rooms and screaming people in the process. He landed on his back with a cough and clambered to his feet, gritting his teeth with anger. The sorcerer turned his thrusters back on with minimum force and went skyrocketing through town again, screaming as he tried to gain control of his flying skills.

"Damn it, why is this so hard?" he said after destroying more than half the houses and buildings near the golden palace. Tony was currently hovering in the air, rocking back and forth slightly as he struggled to control his magic and the force within it. "So, my magic is powering this suit?"

"Yes, sir."

"Hmm," Tony turned slightly as he heard yelling of guards. "Hey, is that Freyr? The blonde guy with the beard running beside Frigga. Yeah, that's him!" (It wasn't.)

The mortal man flew down to the two and didn't have much of an elegant landing, blundering through the open doors of Odin's feasting hall in the process. Before he flew straight into a golden wall and plummeted to the floor a red and gold metal heap, Tony spotted Loki in the room yelling something at all the people in the hall.

"I was your son, or so you used to tell me everyday since I was born, Odin!" Loki shouted, fists clenched by his side.

Tony put a hand toward his head before reached out a hand for Loki as he ran toward the god, accidentally turning on his thrusters in the process, which sent him back into the air, banging himself against the ceiling to smash down into the floor. Oh, there would be a mark in the floor for sure.

Loki seemed keen on ignoring Tony though and continued with his rant. "But now I only know the truth of why you took me in, of why you lied to me my whole life! You know my orlog, you knew my destiny, and you played me for a fool the entire time!"

"Loki," Odin started, standing from his position at the head of the table. All the others at the table turned to face the King, "I tried my best to-"

"Do not say you tried your best to protect me! Why did you take me in if you knew as soon as you touched me that _I_ was that Loki, _I_ was the Loki of Jotunheim that would lead the final battle of Ragnarok?" Loki was screaming, his face contorted with pain and agony. "You knew and why didn't you just let me die so it would not come to this?"

"Loki!"

Both Tony and Loki turned as Frigga, accompanied by Freyr and some other gods and goddess (and a couple dwarves) entered the dining hall. Loki's face softened just the tiniest bit, Tony barely noticed it, before rage consumed his facial features.

"And you! You, Frigga, who lied and kept that secret. I forgave you for it, I truly did, but this. Did you _really_ think I knew not of my fate in life? Of my role in Ragnarok? You can not change it no matter how much you try, Frigga! You can not change who I am and who I will be! The fates and volva have already decided that and you should've known of it since adopting me. You should've known and you should have said no to taking me in because you knew as soon as you touched me; _you knew what I would do!_ You knew I would kill him, kill all of them because you're a seer, _you know my orlog!"_

"I thought it would change!" Frigga cried out, tears welding in her brown eyes. "I thought if you lived with us, if you could love and be loved and be sheltered, it would not happen! The volva told us Loki of _Jotunheim_ would lead the battle, not Loki of_Asgard_! The paths of our orlog are etched in, but there is always another path you can take, Loki! There is always a path the volva and I can not see until you take a step toward it!"

"Not for this, Frigga. _Never for this!"_

Tony took a step toward Loki, ready to butt in, but the god turned toward him with feral green eyes and flicked his hand. Green magic shot out of Loki's palm and struck Tony in the chest, sending the man airborne through the hall. He rammed into a wall across the hall and slumped to the ground with a groan. "Sir, your suit is overloaded with magic."

"I know," Tony hobbled to his feet again, glad he was wearing his armor to protect himself. "How the hell do I stop him? He's pretty pissed right now."

"Oh, you brought along Freya!" Tony turned at Loki's mocking joy, finding Freyr standing beside a tall woman with gorgeous and lengthy black hair and hurt gray eyes. "When I was younger, I used to believe I was your son. I dismissed the thought though, we were not similar enough for my taste and being adopted seemed improbable. After all, I may have been the only one with black hair and green eyes, but Fulla has black hair and Hlin had a sister with black hair and green eyes."

"Loki, calm down," Freya said, walking toward the angered god. "I understand you are upset about your orlog and Ragnarok, but you will only make the situation worse if you do not calm down first."

"Calm down?" Loki started laughing manically, his voice bleeding through the room. It sent bad vibes down Tony's spine. "Why should I calm down when you yourself have yet to calm down your promiscuous ways? I did not simply think me your son for hair color and height. No, I know of you and Odin, everyone does. Perhaps I was the child of such affairs, I knew not. I would rather it be that than what I am of course. But then, if I was your son, why not take me in and let me be Prince of Vanaheim? Why Asgard? And if I were your son, the answer would be simple. You're a seer, the queen of all seers throughout the nine, and you knew of my orlog as well. _You wouldn't be able to handle taking care of a child who will begin the end of the nine worlds!"_

"Loki, how dare you-"

"How dare I what, Freyr? How dare I insult your sister in such ways that I have? I am not the one who bedded my sibling and wedded her shortly after," Tony blinked at that as the gods murmured to themselves. Loki turned back to Freya with a sneer. "I am not the one who bedded nine dwarves simultaneously for a necklace!"

Freya's gray eyes hardened dangerously and wisps of dark gray twirled around her elegant body. "Which you later stole from me."

Loki ignored Freya's comment with a passing hand as Tony adjusted the gauntlet of his damaged suit, calculating stuff in his head to figure out a way to not overpower his suit with magic. Tony raised his arm and pointed his palm toward Loki, estimating measurements with his eye. A stream of blue burst from Tony's palm and he put his arm down after he accidentally blasted Loki into the air with magic from his suit. The god landed on the long and large wooden dining table and quickly stood up, enraged green eyes aimed on Tony as his frazzled black hair swayed with anger.

Shit.

"Anthony Stark," Loki spat, striding across the table (where some Aesir and elves were still sitting), " or the Midgardian Sorcerer as we should know him as."

All eyes turned on Tony, who really didn't want to be the center of attention for the first time in like, forever. Loki leapt off the table and landed gracefully like a cat, eyes trained on Tony the entire time. Tony could just imagine Loki coming at him with that scepter again and it almost made him panic.

"Loki, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-_gah!"_

Tony squealed as five green strands of magic attached themselves to his chest plate and flung him across the room with ease. He once more made unwelcome contact with the wall and struggled to get back on his feet, only to get tossed around again. "You are almost as bad as Fulla," Loki started talking to Tony as he walked toward the suited man, "Hating me at first, never letting that go as you try to better me for your own twisted purposes."

"Bettering you was never the point, Loki." Tony sputtered out, wincing as his leg throbbed with intense pain. He quickly cast a healing spell, but Loki countered it or something, he didn't know. "What did you just do? How did you do that?"

The mortal sorcerer scrambled to his feet as Loki approached, pointing his palm toward the face of the god. Loki sauntered toward Tony, green magic surrounding him in a halo like glow. It swirled and twisted around Loki's body, calling out for Tony with gut-wrenching pain that echoed in those dark emerald eyes.

Unable to act and struck with intense sorrow for Loki, Tony allowed himself to be touched by those gorgeous strands of magic coming his way. He let those five strands touch his armor and meld into his chest plate, grasping him in a manner similar to someone squeezing his chest. Tony winced slightly, but did not protest and maintained eye contact with Loki until the god flicked his wrist, his timid merciful wrist, and sent Tony soaring through the gall to land on his back atop the dining table, people screaming at the impact.

Before Tony could get up onto his feet, Loki shimmered above him, hovering over Tony with an indescribable look as he straddled the man's legs. Tony wondered if Loki could look into his eyes or something because even with his visor on, Tony felt like the god was staring into his eyes. He wanted to look away, not not look into those pools of emotion and see every ounce of pain and agony that resonated in them. "You too played me for a fool," Loki started, "Claiming you and I can end what I am to start."

"We can, Loki." Tony started softly, ignoring everything one else in the room. "You teach me and then I stop Ragnarok and then-"

"The only way to stop it is to kill me, Stark, do you not get it?" Loki exclaimed, black hair strewn across his pale face as he yelled, "Me teaching you does not matter if I am still alive to be able to start the battle. Frigga could be your teacher or Freyr but it would not matter as long as I am alive to start the battle!"

"If that's true, then why are you here? Why are you still alive then? Why did you agree to this if you knew you would only end up starting Ragnarok?"

"I knew not of my destiny until after I agreed for Frigga," the god's emotion-laden green eyes turned from Tony, "It was after I took you to my abode when I found out."

"The person at the door," Tony gasped lightly, watching Loki's eyes squeeze shut with pain. "The person at the door told you."

"And I did not believe her until you told me of Baldr." Those green eyes snapped back to Tony with anger, the previous mood shattered. "Until you confirmed for me my fate in this cruel world!"

Loki stood up, no longer hovering over Tony, and used magic to toss the man again. Tony really hated being used like a doll, his poor suit was dented all over the place and man, would that be a bitch to fix. The god jumped off the wooden table and raised a hand to throw Tony once more, but the man raised his arms, calling on his magic and the power within it to help him with a destruction spell he had learned during those two weeks of lessons. Tony managed to blast an incredible amount of magic from his palms and shot Loki across the hall, an angry snarl on his lips as he lowered his arms.

"Tony!"

The man turned at the sound of that familiar voice and spotted the Avengers (including Thor) running toward him. "Where were you guys?"

"We got lost." Clint explained, turning to glare at Thor, who smiled sheepishly.

"The palace has changed since my last visit." Thor then turned his attention toward the situation at hand. "What has happened, Man of Iron?"

"Well, Loki's using me like a rag doll and-"

Thor pushed Tony to the side at that and stormed toward Loki, who was coughing as he climbed to his feet. "Loki! How dare you treat Stark in such a manner."

"Treat Stark in such a manner? Oh, he can handle it, I know," Loki spat, sending a blast of magic toward Thor, who took it in stride. "But now you are here, Prince Thor."

"Loki, we do not wish this on you. No one wishes such an orlog on someone else."

"You knew." Loki said and the utter pain and anguish in those two words even made Natasha raise her eyebrows. "You knew of my orlog and hid it like everyone else! You are just like Odin, but as they say, like father, like son."

"I did not know until after Baldr's death and I could not bring myself to tell you of his death. I have always known how close you two were and I did not want to torment you further." Thor's big blue eyes were dark with sorrow, "The day I was to tell you despite knowing I should not do so, you left. I went searching through the nine worlds looking for you so I could tell you, not to put you in prison once more. I used it as an excuse because I was told I could not tell you."

Loki lowered his arm slightly, taking in Thor's words. The sorcerer god looked conflicted, unsure if he should believe Thor's words. So, Thor continued his speech in the expanding silence. "Mother has only just told me of the role of the Midgardian Sorcerer in this, his role of stopping Ragnarok. Of stopping you and I believe she has chosen well by letting you teach him."

"Don't you dare bring him into this, Thor!" Loki shrieked, his voice cracking horrifically on the word _dare_, "I need not your approval and why do you believe he can stop me anyway? Before him, Ragnarok was inevitable! Why is he the new savior?"

"Because we all believe he can do this, Loki, and so do you, so please, stop protesting and let him do his job and you do yours."

Everyone in the hall screamed with fright and horror as Loki let out a cry and fired a concentrated ray of emerald green magic at Thor's chest, knocking the thunder god unstable. With every ray Loki shot from his palms, he yelled at Thor. He yelled _I hate you_and started crying, letting the tears pour down his face as he exerted all his energy into injuring Thor.

His magic lightened from green to a pale white, white like snow or frost tinged a little blue. And that's when Loki suddenly stopped, staring at his hands with disbelief. His hands were turning dark blue and his face was tinging baby blue. Thor, who was on the ground on one knee while wielding Mjolnir, turned to the Avengers after striking Loki down with a bolt of lightening. The blonde thunder god was injured as well. He had a trail of blood rushing down the side of his head and a couple bruises along with dented armor.

"Get the royals of the nine out of this hall." the prince ordered, "I wish no harm on the innocent."

Steve nodded and grouped up the five heroes (Bruce had exited the hall to make sure he didn't Hulk out), rushing to the table where most of the shocked and frightened Aesir and elves and such were. Thor grabbed Tony's leg, stopping the mortal from following his friends.

"Stop Loki, Stark." Thor said as he stood up fully, blue eyes boring into Tony's brown ones, even though the man's visor was down. "I fear if I try, I may kill him."

"And what makes you think I won't?" Tony retorted, rage boiling in his gut. Thor looked so injured, yet determined to stop Loki and didn't look like he had an ounce of anger in him. "I'm more pissed at him than you are!"

"Of course you are, Anthony," Thor's face softened lightly as he stood up, wincing slightly with his movements, "Only the ones closest to him can get the most angry at him for this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the brunette exclaimed, very pleased his visor was down so no one could see his face heat up slightly. "Never mind, I'll stop him, but only because you can't do so yourself with all those injuries."

Thor didn't get a chance to respond for he was violently shoved into a golden wall by a green bolt of magic. Tony turned to Loki, who was on his hands and knees, panting heavily as red, green, and white swirled around the sorcerer god in a cloud of color. Loki was back to his normal shade of peachy white, no more weird tints of blue. The armored man could feel Loki's magic throbbing in the back of his head, which confused him because wasn't the bond gone? Didn't Loki destroy it?

"Loki, get up," Tony started, walking to the god as his visor pulled up. Tired green eyes looked up suddenly and with a grunt, Loki sent another flare of green magic toward Tony. Tony dodged it (barely might he add) and went from walking to running as the exhausted god stood up. "Your death is not the answer, Loki!"

"Why do you say that?" Loki replied, rocky on his wobbling legs. The god's usually meticulously gelled back hair was a frizzled and tangled mess, sweaty and plastered to his face. His face was an unhealthy white, causing those mythic green eyes to stand out more than usual.

Loki's cape was torn and his armor was dented, probably from the blasts of magic Tony had sent his way. A trail of crimson red blood flowed from his mouth and a different one trailed across the god's arm where a gash had been inflicted and tore his armor. From the looks of it, one of Loki's legs was also injured; he wasn't putting much weight on it as he stood. That's when Tony remembered that Loki wasn't completely healed from his sickness. He was only well enough to be able to teleport Tony with no added injury. Every attack he and Thor launched did much more harm and damage than intended or expected to cause.

The swirls of magic around Loki separated from each other, no longer mixing together. Tony and everyone else watched Loki collapse to his knees once more on the golden ground of the damaged eating hall as the red, green and white strands started to form shapes. More precisely, silhouettes. The green one took the silhouette of Loki with his horned helmet. The red swirls took the silhouette of a form Tony had only seen a few times, Hyrr the Vanir god of Vanaheim. The last one, the white swirls, formed a silhouette Tony was unfamiliar with. It was taller than the other two and a bit more muscular, but also had horns like Loki's helmet. And was feminine.

The first silhouette to take its true form was the green one. Tony's eyes widen slightly as he recognized this Loki. It was Loki's magic. Loki was releasing his magic from his body, but why? And why now? There were so many people here who hated him, who would attack him at this vulnerable moment. Steal his magic or something else. Why was he doing this? Was it to heal his body, or heal his magic? And then why were there three types?

Someone in the distance raised an weapon to strike down Loki, but before anyone could do anything, Tony found himself in front of Loki, guarding the god with his arms and legs spread out. "Don't touch him," the man growled dangerously, watching Loki's magic turn toward him with slight surprise. "Don't act surprised, you know I won't let you or him die."

The second silhouette to take its true form was the red one. Hyrr's magic opened his blue eyes, donned in armor similar to Thor's but without the gray chest plate. This had to be Loki's seithr magic and usually when Loki was in Vanaheim outside his house, he took the form of Hyrr. Tony smiled softly at the magic, who nodded back with thanks. Tony heard rustling and turned to see Loki slowly stand up, his legs trembling terribly with his efforts.

"Loki," Tony whispered, grabbing the god seconds before he plunged to the floor, "I've got you now. You're not alone. I'm not leaving you." He repeated those three phrases many times as he held Loki close, sliding to his knees as he cradled Loki's head against his chest.

The white silhouette finally took its true form and everyone included Tony gasped at the sight. Ruby red eyes stared down at Tony, who was tracing the beautiful artistic linear patterns that crossed over the winter blue skin with his eyes. Gold necklaces dangled from the creature's neck and equally gold rings adorned her fingers. An intricately designed loincloth rested on the creature's waist, and leather white laced wrappings laced with patterns of gold donned her chest. Thick and long raven black hair was braided down her back and blue horns protruded from the blue creature's skull as an elaborately designed golden crown rested on her head. Cold poured from the creature, who raised a hand, long black fingernails donning those blue patterned fingers.

"Loki," Tony muttered again, watching all the eyes of the magics turn toward him. He focused on the red eyes and spoke once more. "Are you his Jotun magic?"

"Yes," a female voice replied, still sounding like it could be Loki to Tony, "I am Loptr."

"Skywalker," Tony translated. "Hyrr means fire, Loptr means skywalker. What does Loki mean?"

"No one knows," Loki's magic replied, his words echoing in the silence. "It is an odd name for a sorcerer and a Jotun though."

"It has to have meaning though, right?" Tony looked away from Loki's magic and searched for Odin and Frigga, who were no longer in the hall. Right; the Avengers had evacuated them. "Loptr, why are you here? I didn't know Loki could do anything with his Jotun magic."

"He couldn't until now. He unleashed me in his rage on Thor," the Jotun replied, staring down at Loki's limp form. "Doing so has weakened him very much, so his body let all of his magic free."

"So, you," Tony motioned to the magic that looked like Loki, "are Loki's Aesir magic and you," the mortal sorcerer motioned to the Hyrr looking magic, "are Loki's Vanir magic. But, why red?"

"In Vanaheim, red means the same as green."

"But, his magic is never red. It's always green."

"Because he made it that way. It is essentially red, but appears green because Loki wishes for it to be that way. Also, his Vanir magic is not as stable as his Aesir magic."

Tony nodded silently and stood up, picking up Loki, who had passed out, bridal style. The three forms of magic stepped back as Tony turned and proceeded to leave the destroyed hall, Loki in hand. Hyrr, Loki's magic (Tony would need a name for him, how about Regin, that means god in Norse), and Loptr followed suit. There was a crowd around the entrance to the hall and some people screamed at the sight of Loptr.

"Anthony!" the sorcerer turned at his name and spotted Thor and the other Avengers running toward them. The blonde came to his side first, blue eyes full of worry for Loki. "Is he alright?"

"Just passed out." Tony shrugged as the others joined Thor.

"Whoa, who's that?" Clint asked, jabbing a finger in the direction of Loptr. Thor finally noticed the Jotun and raised his hammer, prepared to strike.

"Don't do it," Tony hissed violently, catching Thor's attention. "It's magic. Loki's magic. All three of them are."

"Tony, we've got to do something with him now that we have him down." Steve said with urgency, shield in hand. "If he's a part of this villain thing, then all the others could be coming soon enough."

"He's got a point," Bruce said. The scientist looked pretty ruffled up. Tony wondered if he had Hulked out at all. "Loki is dangerous. Look what him wandering around has done already. We've got to lock him up."

"You can't."

Tony closed his mouth before he could reply and turned, surprised to spot Fulla walking toward the group of heroes. Her blue eyes were slightly red and puffy, but she stood tall and grand with an air of superiority.

"Why can't we?" Steve asked kindly once Fulla stood on the other side of Tony.

She looked down at Loki and sighed heavily, turning to lock eyes with Steve. "What just occurred was Lokasenna: the flyting of Loki."

"What's a flyting?"

Tony zoned out here as Fulla started explaining what had occurred and how it tied in with Ragnarok. He told her he was going to drop Loki off somewhere in the palace and quietly asked her not to mention his magical abilities. With that, the Midgardian Sorcerer walked away from the growing crowd, Regin, Loptr, and Hyrr right behind him.

"Do you know how Loki was able to counter my healing spells?" Tony asked once the group turned the corner. "I mean, I didn't even know that was possible."

"He wasn't countering your healing spells." Regin replied, turning to the sorcerer with dark green eyes, "He was accelerating them. There's a reason why your leg no longer hurts."

Tony raised an eyebrow at that. Yeah, his leg was no longer hurting, huh. "Accelerated them?"

"Yes. He was able to do so because he has your elskath and you have his. There are certain spells one can perform only if they have the elskath for themselves and the other person."

No one said anymore after that as Tony wandered through halls, turning every which way until he found an empty room. Luckily, he found Loki's old room, which didn't look untouched. There were books strewn over the room and the bed. Papers littered the floor and an spilled inkwell was on the ground, staining part of the green carpet a deadly black. It looked as if someone had come in here searching for something.

Or someone.

Tony brushed some of the books off the bed and placed Loki down, staring down at the god. Loki looked horrible. He was too pale for it to be good and his lips were pale pink with death or something. He was even cold to the touch, which didn't please Tony until Loptr and Hyrr told him it was natural and an effect of being a Jotun.

The man sat down in a chair beside the bed after removing his helmet and watched Loki breathe, wondering why the god had broken their bond. If their bond was even broken in the first place. He did feel Loki's magic. He felt that pang, but wait. The pang only occurs because he knows Loki's magic trace. The bond could very well be gone.

"Why are you doing this?" Tony asked, voice cracking a bit as his eyes started to burn with unshed tears. "What are you trying to accomplish? I'm trying to help you, damn it! Let me do that, please, Loki."

There was no response from the pale and motionless Loki. Tony stood up angrily from his chair and stormed toward the exit, ignoring the looks Regin, Loptr and Hyrr were sending him. He was so angry and upset and hurt and confused. He wanted to yell at Loki until his throat bled and then kiss him until his lips were raw. He didn't know what to do with Loki. He didn't know how to progress their relationship in the way he wanted and that hurt him the most. Especially since he didn't know what he wanted anymore.

Before, he knew exactly what to do: listen to Loki, learn magic, find the villains, defeat them, the end! He knew what to do with Loki, he knew what he needed to do, but everything had changed. Loki lost it and it was his fault! His fault for mentioning Baldr. There was a reason why Eir told him not to tell Loki but Tony ignored her, his mind trained on pleasing Loki, on making the god feel better because it hurt him too when Loki was in emotional pain.

It wasn't just the bond that made his heart ache because he didn't need some magic bond to be hurt by people's words or feel joyous at them. He didn't need a bond for that at all.

Tony found his legs moving before he could stop himself. He knelt by Loki's bed and took on of those cold pale hands in his own, staring up at the emotionless god. "Promise me you won't do this again." Tony's voice was so quiet, he could barely hear it. "I can't deal with that. I can't deal with you hurting me like this; I love you too much."

Wait, what?

"No, no, not love like romance, but as my friend. I love you as my friend and my magic teacher and you can't just flip out like this! There are people who care for you, who are trying to make sure you don't start Ragnarok and I'm one of them, too! Stop hurting us, Loki, because you want to pull away. We're not going to. Not ever."

He didn't even care that he was talking to someone who couldn't hear him. Loptr, Regin and Hyrr are nearby. They would tell Loki anything important Tony might say during his rant. The man leaned forward a bit and pressed his lips to Loki's sweaty forehead in an affectionate manner similar to when Loki had kissed his temple all those weeks back. Tony's gaze softened before he let go of Loki's hand and stood up fully, turning to Loki's various forms of magic.

"Tell him I'm on Earth and if he needs me, mind speak. Wait, no, I forgot, the bond is gone." The mortal sorcerer's eyes went downcast. "Tell him I'm waiting, okay?"

"I could have sworn last I saw you in your Iron Man suit, you were a better flyer."

Tony immediately turned, eyes going wide as he saw half open green eyes look up at him, a weak smirk on the god's lips. Tony was so pleased to hear that sweet voice, he almost burst into tears. Instead, he unleashed all his emotion into yelling.

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you? Are you _trying_ to kill everyone? Don't you ever do that again, understand? I don't want to fight you and you will not put me in such a position to do so again! You're my teacher and I just want you to teach me, damn it! I want to help you, I don't want this drama anymore, I just want to stop Ragnarok and I can't do it with out you, so please, don't go."

By the end of his speech, Tony's voice had tapered down to a pleading soft whisper and Loki was getting paler by the second as he closed his eyes.

"When using your suit, make sure you feel the energy of your magic first and then exert it into the forces needed to power the suit." Loki mumbled so softly Tony could barely hear the god's words. "Your reactor is a battery of magic. Use it wisely."

"You have to help me do that. I don't know as much about magic like you do." one green eye opened weakly and looked over at Tony. "You will help me right? I mean, I'm really sorry about the Baldr thing; Eir told me not to tell you but I couldn't help myself. And sorry about the armor, it was necessary though."

"The volva told me I would lead the army to Vigrid," the injured god murmured closing his eye, "She said I would start Ragnarok and end everything but only after killing Baldr. Hence why I did not believe her and was angered at her words."

"Loki, you don't have to tell me this."

"After you left, I came here," the god continued hoarsely, ignoring Tony's words. Tony wanted him to stop talking though, his voice sounded like death and he was tinging blue all over every few words, "I searched for anything I could and found the prophecy of Ragnarok. That is why I came so quickly to you when you came back via Bifrost. I ignored what I read, even though I knew it was inevitable that I would lead the final army against Asgard."

"It's not inevitable like I said. I can stop it, it's in the prophecy. I'm supposed to stop it." Tony watched Loki snort. "Seriously, that's why Frigga wanted you to teach me. That's why I want you to teach me. Didn't you hear what Frigga said about orlogs? Destinies? There are so many paths Frigga, other seers and even the volva can't see because you haven't taken a step toward it. I can help you so you don't lead the army. I want to help you."

"Why do you even care?" the god's voice was so soft and broken, it hurt to hear.

"Because it's the end of the world." Loki actually cocked a smile at that. "And because you're my friend and this is what friends do for each other. You know, push them in the right direction."

"Science magic."

"What?" Tony's brow crinkled with confusion at Loki's words.

"Using magic with the concept of science. That is what you need to use in order to use your suit."

"Science magic? How come you've never told me of such a type of magic before?"

"Because you invented it."

Tony raised both his eyebrows with slight shock. He invented a type of magic? Whoa, that could almost possibly be cooler than inventing the Iron Man suit. A small smile crept onto his lips before he sighed lightly, taking a couple steps back from the bed.

"You broke the bond," Tony said quietly, unwilling to look down at Loki. He was a bit scared he would see a response he wouldn't like. "I couldn't feel you anymore. Still can't. So, um, find a way to contact me about lessons, alright?"

"It was not on purpose if you wish to know." the mortal man still didn't make eye contact with Loki. "Neither was breaking the bond with Frigga. With her, I cut myself off from Aesir magic, breaking our Aesir magic bond. Since she knows not of my other traces, she could no longer talk to me."

"Well, what about Thor and me? Why can you all of a sudden contact him, but not me?"

"I know not. Bond magic has never been my speciality or expertise. I prefer not to mess with it as it can lead to a mess and confusion." Loki's eyes looked around the room with confusion. "What has happened here?"

"Oh, I came in here and it was like this. Did you do this when you came searching for the legend of Ragnarok?"

"No, I leave no mess like this in the palace. Especially since I am a wanted criminal." the god's brow furrowed. "Someone is looking for me."

"Nice deduction, Sherlock."

Loki payed Tony's comment no mind as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes once more. "Feel free to return to Midgard any time, Stark."

"But what about the bond?"

"Do not worry about it; it was a stupid thing to create anyway." Tony's surprised at the harshness of Loki's words.

"It wasn't stupid, just necessary. And you said we need the teacher-student bond in order for me to teach you. You have to reinstall it or whatever you do."

"I can not create that bond again; we are no longer teacher and student. I am not teaching you anymore."

"What?"

"Find someone else. All I will do is trouble you more and I wish not to do that to you any longer."

"God damn it, Loki, why can't you get it through your thick skull that I don't want any other teacher?" Loki didn't stir. "I want you! Not Frigga or Freyr or anyone else! I want you to teach me; I need _you_, Loki."

The sorcerer god didn't stir, but a smile formed on his lips as he chuckled. "You truly are something, aren't you, Stark?"

At Loki's words, Tony suddenly felt a jolt of power rush through him, knocking him to his knees. He clutched at his chest, gasping slightly as he felt a flood of emotions and all his senses went on overload. His eyes went unfocused and he coughed violently, trying to get his breathing pattern back on track.

Once he calmed down, Tony grabbed his helmet, putting it on with the visor up, stood on his feet and found Loki on his side, back facing the brunette. He opened his mouth to ask what had happened, but closed it, not wanting to disturb the injured god. By the looks of it and the disappearance of Loptr, Loki was in his Jotun form. He said quick goodbyes to Hyrr and Regin before leaving the room to find Frigga and Thor by the door with hopeful looks.

"He's fine. I think he's sleeping now." Tony announced, watching the two blondes grin with relief. "You've got an interesting god on your hands now. That's all I'm willing to say."

"We love him all the same." Frigga replied, blue eyes bright and cheery. Thor nodded as well, a soft smile on his lips. "I want to thank you, Stark, for calming him down and coming to interrupt. Lokasenna was not stopped, but Loki is not chained or locked up, so he has nothing to break out of to start Ragnarok."

"Right," Tony smiled a little forcefully, "Anyway, I've got to get back to Midgard before my buddies start asking questions. Thor, thanks for everything as well. I wish I could've stopped him from reaching this point, but not all things can be stopped."

Frigga frowned slightly before perking. "Stark, you said you wanted a new teacher. I found you a few if you wish."

Tony felt his face fall slightly. "Already?"

"Yes," Frigga inspected his face carefully. "Or you can continue being with Loki. Do you want Loki as your teacher?"

"It's not what I want, but what I need. There's no way possible I can do this without Loki's help now. We've gotten too close to split so to speak." Tony shrugged with his words, surprised at how easily he said them. "I don't think anyone else would be able to teach me as well. After all, our magic is the same."

"What?" Frigga exclaimed, quite astonished at Tony's words.

The brunette sorcerer proceeded to inform Frigga of everything that happened between him and Loki pre-Lokasenna. He started from the creation of the teacher-student bond, to the breaking of their crude lover's bond.

"It's back," Frigga purred, eyes glinting with suggestiveness. Thor coughed awkwardly and Tony could feel his cheeks start to heat up.

"What do you mean? Loki broke the bond, it's gone."

"He brought it back. He created a new one and so now, it is back. I can feel it since I have your traces encoded. Bond magic is magic of the traces, not of the magic itself."

Oh. That must have been what happened back in the room when Tony's senses went haywire and stuff. A smile crept onto Tony's lips as he shook his head. They had a intimate friendship bond and that was good enough for him. He still didn't know exactly what he wanted out of this relationship with Loki (they both wanted more by evidence that Loki reinstated the crude lover's bond, not the teacher-student bond), but he really needed to get his head on straight and get his magic skills up to snuff.

"That's good then. I'll be up in Asgard soon enough then. He'll be staying here a little while, right? You might need to watch over him, I don't think he's safe in Vanaheim anymore." Frigga nodded with agreement.

"It would be best to keep Loki here even if he was not so injured and exhausted." the queen turned to face the closed door of her son's room. "I never thought him powerful enough to remove all of his magic from his body. He trusts you a lot to be able to do so while so weak and surrounded by people who would take advantage of it."

"I know. Oh wait, I wanted to ask a question about something." Frigga raised a blonde eyebrow, curiosity written in her eyes. "When Loki released his Jotun magic, it was female. Why is that? I thought it would be male too since you know, Loki's male."

"Oh. Loki is a female Jotun. He has been one since birth." Tony blinked and Thor gained a look of shock. "When Odin found Loki abandoned on the plains of Jotunheim, he knew who she was and her role in Ragnarok. He decided to give her a second configuration of Aesir and make her male so if the Jotuns returned to the temple and discovered her gone, Odin would not be a suspect since he has a new son, not a daughter. We had to take Loki in as a precaution to make sure Ragnarok could not happen. We thought if she were to stay in Jotunheim and become the queen she was born to be, then Ragnarok would most definitely occur."

"But in the legends, Loki kills Baldr. Why would you take him in if you knew he would end up killing your son?"

"Because Loki of _Jotunheim_ kills Baldr. Loki of _Jotunheim_ goes through with Lokasenna. If Loki did not associate himself with Jotunheim, then how can it occur?"

"But Lokasenna happened and Baldr died anyway."

"Because Loki associates himself with Jotunheim now." Frigga's face fell horrifically as Thor paled. "We never thought he would ever have to run into frost giants in the manner he did. We never thought the simple touch would cause Loki to change his configuration."

"Configuration?"

"Yes. Loki has two bodies and two minds. His Aesir body and mind, and his Jotun body and mind. These two body/mind combinations are considered configurations. From now on, when Loki changes to his Jotun form, his appearance and mindset will change as well, therefore changing his configuration." Frigga sighed as Tony and Thor raised their eyebrows with confusion. "Say you use a glamour spell to make yourself look like an elephant. The glamour spell does not change your physical appearance. It gives a look of a change of physical appearance, but underneath the spell, the body is normal.

"Say you use a shapeshifting spell to make yourself look like an elephant. The shapeshifting spell does change your physical appearance, but your mindset is still the same. You still think like Tony Stark or Thor Odinson. A change in configuration, or a morph as those of us who use magic like to call it, is when the physical appearance changes as does the mindset. You would look like an elephant and think like one as well."

"You said from now when Loki morphs, he will change mindset and appearance. Why didn't that happen before?"

"His Jotun form has been locked down for hundreds of years and so when he came in contact with Jotun magic, it awakened. Jotun Loki was weak though, so the best she could be presented as was a shapeshift, not a morph. Shapeshifting rarely includes changes of one's gender and only the best can change their gender. While Loki is an expert with shapeshifting magic and one of the best at it, he still needs to concentrate and focus, so while under emotional pain and turmoil, he can not change gender. Therefore, he shapeshifted into a male Jotun version of himself instead of morphing into his Jotun configuration."

"You guys put a lot of work into stopping Ragnarok." Tony pointed out. "And two of the precursors have already occurred. How the hell am I supposed to stop it then?"

"Defeat the villains before they attack. Stop them from having any reason to destroy Asgard and the rest of the nine worlds." Frigga's voice went stern and commanding as she spoke. "You need to focus on that. On completing the job I have assigned to you."

"Yes, ma'am," Tony nodded with affirmation. "I should really go though, Steve will chew me out if I spend too much time here. Oh Thor, thanks for keeping this secret. I really don't want them on my back right now. I'll tell them about my magical abilities soon enough."

"It has been my pleasure, Man of Iron. I thank you for stopping Loki before the royals of the nine decided to lock him up. Only a select few of us knew of Ragnarok, so they would not know that locking Loki up would result in it." the blonde god turned to Loki's door. "I visit Midgard soon enough, but for now, I will speak with my brother."

"Sister. I think Loki's in his Jotun configuration now. Not sure about that though, so be careful."

With that, Tony bowed his head to Frigga and took his leave, walking (not flying) to the Bifrost where Heimdall was waiting for him. "Your friends have taken their leave."

"I figured so. Hey, you can see everything that happens throughout the nine, right?" the Bifrost guard nodded. "Could you see Loki these past few months?"

"No, he was hidden from me until recently. Now, I can see him and I will be able to see him until he decides to hide his trace from me once more. This time though, he would have to hide all three of his traces." Tony nodded before pulling his visor down. "Are you ready to return to Midgard, Sorcerer?"

"Yeah. I'm ready."

When Tony arrived on Earth on the roof of his tower, he let the robots and machines take off the armor as he walked inside, ready to get a drink. Loki was a mess. A complete and total mess gone wrong and somewhere along the line, Tony decided he wanted to clean up this mess, or at least tidy it. The man chuckled aloud as he grabbed a shot glass and a filled decanter, filling his glass with the acidic liquid. He liked it though, being close with Loki, knowing only he could fix the god and learn from him. There were still kinks in the relationship they had to figure out, like making sure not to turn that intimate friendship bond (aka the crude lover's bond) into a real lover's bond, but Tony found pleasure knowing Loki also possibly wanted more.

"Hey Jarvis," Tony called, sipping from his cup, "do you think having a god as a boyfriend would be nice?"

"It depends on the god you speak of, sir, and what you consider nice." Tony rolled his eyes and refilled his glass, strolling through the room. "Also, sir, I do not know if it would be appropriate or wise to mix work relationships with personal relationships. Especially when you are the one solution to stopping the end of the world and the god you are most likely speaking of is a psychopath."

"Jarivs, you know me too well."

If Jarvis were a person, he would be smirking. "That is my job, sir."

* * *

So, Tony's thinking about being more than Loki's friend and possibly acting on his feelings ;D (took enough time, Tony, sheesh) Loki's male and female, which will have importance later on, and now it's time for more lessons and more Tony/Loki romance rather than fighting xD It might be a few days before I post chapter nine, I have to change a few things for the outline of that chapter. Good thing is that it's the weekend, so I have time :D

I usually dislike writing long A/N's, but I want to let all of you know how happy I am with the number of people who have viewed this story, reviewed it, favorited it and/or followed it. Of Asgardian Blood has only been up for three days and I'm just so giddy right now knowing people like it and read it and everything! Don't forget to review (it makes me write faster, no joke) because I like reading your reviews, every single one! If you have any ideas or suggestions feel free to post them in a review! I'm open to any and everything you have to offer! Thanks once again for the feedback and everything! Until next time, my lovely readers!~

-Avengurl


	9. Boundaries

**summerlove-jls: **I'm glad you like the story and can't wait for more! Hope you like this chapter just as much!

**Fiona12690:** Lovely ideas! You read my mind! I hope to fit in a mind speak session from Loki's POV soon enough and as for Fury, well, read on!~ (I love the idea of Steve bending over backwards to be a gentleman to femaleJotun!Loki xD)

**Crow of Death:** One of your faves!? I'm truly glad you like it! And thanks for the compliments! :3 Unfortunately, I caught a bad cold and found myself in no mood to write (I'm practically forcing myself to write for the 30 Day OTP challenge), hence why I took so long to update. This chapter isn't my best (at least that's what I think), but I hope you like it!

**Mystery moose:** I'm surprised I have reviews already! xD I have put quite a bit of effort into this, but I love it all the same! I'm glad you do as well and thanks for the review!~

**victoria (guest):** Aww, thanks for the compliment! Writing's just a hobby of mine, but I thank you for thinking I have talent xD

**_Here's the next chapter for you guys!~_**

* * *

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 9:** _Boundaries_

Rating: T

Length: 11,352 words (the chapters just get longer and longer and longer)

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: Silence took over as the realization sunk in that they were in a bed together. _Alone._

* * *

Tony woke up the next day pretty early and decided to get started on fixing his suit. Flying around crashing into buildings was not as fun as one might think; if anyone thought it was fun in the first place. Sighing with exhaustion, Tony walked on downstairs to his lab, already thinking of different ways he could modify his suit and better improve his new type of magic he had invented. He was thinking about a quick mind speak with Loki just to double check their bond as working and not a hoax, but decided against it. Thor was in Loki's room and Loki was probably irritated and annoyed. While Tony wouldn't usually care if he mind spoke with Loki under those conditions, he didn't want to deal with more pissy Loki. Lokasenna was enough for a life time.

"Hey Jarv, where'd the others go?" the brunette asked once he got down to his lab, rubbing at his eyes. Man, he was too tired.

"They are currently conversing with Director Fury about the occurrences in Asgard and what Fulla had told them." the AI system replied.

"What? And they didn't invite me?" Tony walked over to his display case of suits with a frown. "Whatever. I've got bigger things to worry about. So, tell me a bit about my magic overpowering my suit. I gotta figure out how that works and then make those improvements I planned out all those weeks ago. Actually, no. I'll read my edits myself. I think I was working on making my suit respond to magic."

Indeed he was. Looking at the plans, he saw that he was going to have his suit respond to the heat frequencies of his magic and the energy of his magic trace. Now he knew a bit more about traces and how they worked, so he could easily get started on that aspect of the suit.

He knew his own magic trace and the hard part would be trying to figure out a way to translate the feeling of magic traces into scientific terms. Tony needed the suit to respond to him and he needed to find something that differed from Loki's magic trace since their magic traces were exactly the same or something like that.

But, he knew his elskath and his elskath was different from Loki's. He could translate sparks of magic and magical charge into joules and volts respectively and then let his suit turn on and respond only when it feels those two amounts nearby. Unfortunately, his sparks of magic per second would change over time as he used magic more often and his magic evolved to carry more sparks to be energy efficient. His magical charge would also change for the same reason.

He would have to wait until his magic stabilized more because even though he had it under control, it was still slightly unstable and very explosive in a way. Once it calmed down after much usage, it would settle into a range and with that range, he could then program his suit to respond to the correct frequencies.

For example, right now his elskath was 152 pounds, 1850 positive magical charge and 267 sparks per second. Over time as he used more magic, his magical charge could change to negative, which meant it was not highly charged and absorbed energy instead of using it. Endothermic verses exothermic reactions in a way. Over time, he could use up to 500 sparks per second if his magical charge was negative and he casted spells that need energy or if his magical charge was extremely high, like Loki's. Or he could use less than 267 sparks per second, which would only occur if his magical charge was extremely low and he rarely used magic.

His magic would then stabilize into a range. Say his magic was usually about 1850 to 1870 positive magical charge and he used around 267 to 321 sparks per second. The number used for his elskath would the median of each range. In this case of the example, his elskath would be 152 pounds, 1860 positive magical charge and 294 sparks per second.

Tony would have to program his suit to those ranges and the elskath derived from the ranges. One good thing about elskaths and hugr was that one only had to hugr once and that was it. Even if the other sorcerer's stats changed, he wouldn't have hugr everyone all the changes. Elskaths and hugr were connected with traces and so if one could feel the persons trace, the elskaths were automatically internally updated.

Magic was cool like that.

Tony liked that part of it.

He also hated it because how the Helheimr could he get Jarvis and his suit to do that? He probably shouldn't install people's elskaths into Jarvis' system in the first place, but what if he forgot someone's elskaths? What if he was fighting with the Avengers and then Steve got injured and he had to heal him but then forgot the soldier's elskath? Humans didn't have a magical trace tied to elskaths that would automatically internally update. Tony would have to memorize their elskaths, or at least the outcome of each equation for each one of his friends.

He didn't want to do that.

So, he could have Jarvis track his trace, which would never change, but that just lead back to the issue of Loki having the same exact trace and Tony just got more frustrated. There was nothing inherently wrong with Loki being able to power Tony's suit other than the fact that Loki was a psychopathic god who could possibly end the world and Tony so did not want to be a partial cause of that.

Tony had powered the suit back in Asgard by simply letting the magic in his arc reactor act like the energy in an arc reactor. He felt the magic, felt the energy within and around him in order to access his magic and use it by shooting it out of his palms. It was still a rough patch though since his magic was very strong and man, sparks carried a lot more energy than Earth's standard units of energy. He would have to make a lot of conversions all across the board in order not over power his suit. Tony could also concentrate the energy of his magic so it had lots of power despite not a lot of magic being used. He would have to somehow alter his magical charge for that to happen.

But first, he could alter the amounts of energy and power the suit could handle. He too would also have to concentrate on the amount of magic he used when powering his suit. Maybe his suit had its own elskath in a way. Or he could just program into Jarvis and the suit the equivalent amounts of magic for each power level of his repulsers once he finished the conversions.

Tony hummed to himself as he started making calculations, figuring out different ways to describe his magic and analyze it. He started working on the conversions when Jarvis alerted Tony to Pepper coming downstairs and he quickly snuffed out the magic sphere he was analyzing and deciphering.

"Pepper," he said cheerily, hugging the red head once she entered the room. "Fury didn't invite me to the fury party he's having downstairs at SHIELD HQ."

"I see that. I just came here to make sure you're okay. You didn't come down with the others last night and I was worried for a second." Pepper pulled away from Tony and cocked her head at the papers and pens strewn about his working desk. "No tablet? Starting something new then."

"Yeah, in a way. I learned the hard way that my suit and Asgard do not comply." the inventor motioned to his tattered suit that Dum-E had drug down here from the Iron Man suit drop off zone a few feet away.

"Are you scared?" The man raised an eyebrow as Pepper stared at him, her brown eyes darkened with seriousness. "It's okay to be scared, Tony. I know it's frustrating with your arc reactor acting up and Loki on the loose and the villains' possible attack in the near future. I'm sorry I can't help alleviate all the stress, but if you're scared, you can tell me."

Tony turned from her, looking down at the sketches he had made while making calculations. Scared. Was Tony Stark scared? Yes, he very much scared, but not for the reasons Pepper stated. He wasn't scared of the villains attack sometime soon; he was scared that he wouldn't be able to stop it. He wasn't scared that Loki was on the loose; he was scared that he wouldn't be enough for the god and that Loki would end up leading the final battle after all. He was scared of messing everything up and at Pepper's words, reality and the sudden realization of what had been set on his shoulders hit him full force.

The man collapsed into his chair with a choked back sob, a hand at his mouth. Pepper quickly placed her papers to the side and knelt down beside him, rubbing his back as he struggled to hold back his tears.

"I don't even know why I'm crying," he hiccupped, laughing as he wiped at his eyes. "I mean, it's not like it's just me. Steve, Bruce, Clint, Natasha and Thor will help. I can only do my best."

"And so you will," Pepper soothed, smiling up at Tony, "You all will do the best you can to make sure those villains don't end the world. I don't know the details of Reginrok or what ever it's called, but I believe you can do this. You all can and will save the worlds. All nine of them."

"Thanks, Pep." Tony gave her a watery smile and opened his arms for a hug. The red head laughed and stood up, leaning down to accept the comforting hug. "Pepper?"

"Yeah?" she hummed, still embracing Tony as she rubbed the back of his head.

"How would you feel if I told you I'm thinking about moving on?" The woman ceased her movements and pulled away, grabbing Tony's face with her hands.

"I would feel great." she smiled warmly, hugging him once more. "It's about time you get over yourself on our relationship. There's someone out there who needs you in a romantic manner more than I do. Who needs you period more than I do."

"Oh thanks. I'm glad to know you don't need me as much as I thought." The words were gentle though and Pepper simply lightly smacked his shoulder. "But don't kill me no matter who it is."

Those words made Pepper's brown eyes narrow as she grabbed her papers. "You already have someone in mind. Spill it."

"I, uh, can't." Tony fidgeted slightly in his seat, unable to make eye contact with the woman. "Not yet. Trust me though, you'll know soon enough. I haven't talked to him about it yet and I don't want to go about yapping because then he'll be like 'Stark, are you out of your mind' and then I'm completely embarrassed 'cause I thought he wanted more, too and-"

"I wouldn't care who you decide to be your next partner. As long as he doesn't hurt you, I'm fine."

Well, that most definitely reassured Tony that Pepper would not like his choice of partner.

"Ok."

With that, Pepper kissed Tony on the forehead and left the room in silence. Tony let out a deep sigh and turned back to his work, not really wanting to go back to this science magic work. He managed to make two conversions, but it was so tedious and frustrating and it would only get worse once he added the conversions to Jarvis and tested out his suit.

Boy, he couldn't wait for testing.

"Hey Jarvis, where'd I put my magic books?" the man asked as he stepped away from the desk. He wanted to read up a bit on traces and magic like bond magic that uses traces. Maybe he could even find a trace tracking spell since Loki never ended up teaching Tony one like the god said he would.

"Where they usually are," the AI system replied, unamused. Tony nodded and walked over to a shelf and scanned the titles carefully, humming once more as he grabbed three books and sat back down at his desk.

The first book didn't having anything on trace tracking spells, but it did go a bit into the details of bond magic and how bonds can break. Tony started to read that section, but stopped, noting that learning about bond magic wasn't going to help him prepare his suit for Ragnarok and defeating the villains before anything gets more complicated.

The second book had a bit more useful information, including a list of different types of magic throughout the different forms of magic that used traces as their basis, rather than the magic itself. There was bond magic, as Tony already knew, elementary clone magic, configuration magic, duplication magic, trace manipulation magic (only for Aesir magic), and many others Tony didn't bother to look into much. There was nothing about how to actually track a trace, so he tossed that book to the side.

The last book didn't have a trace tracking spell, but it did have an explanation of how to mind speak (or "conversing through traces" as the book called it). Each sorcerer, sorceress or magical being had a magic mind, a particular section of themselves that contained their trace, essence of magic and basically everything that made them magical. It was like an extra set of chromosomes that didn't harm their genetic makeup and most humans, along with every other living thing on Midgard, didn't have it.

Anyway, this magic mind contained the trace and if one focused on the target's magic mind, they could open the other person's mind for conversation, amongst other things like mind reading and control of the other person's magic.

One could only reach another's magic mind with three things: their trace, their elskath, and a strong stable bond regardless of what type of bond it is. Acceptance of reaching the magic mind is also needed and like password protection, some magic people might have some type of spell needed to be cast in order to reach their magic mind. Tony hoped Loki didn't have a spell. He didn't think the god would; after all, not many people had the basic three things needed to open his magic mind.

It all seemed very vulnerable to Tony, but that could be just him. Perhaps magical people of other eight worlds didn't have many strong bonds with those they also _hugr_ with. Traces were pretty easy to pick up; it was the other two that needed work to receive.

Tony closed his eyes and focused on Loki's trace, humming Loki's magic melody as well. He thought about the god's three forms of magic and pictured each one in his head as he reached out mentally and magically with his own magic mind, which was pretty impressive. It was an influx of color and sounds, a maze of wonder and astonishment. It was completely confusing, but made brilliant sense. That was the essence of magic and he used that as he reached out for Loki.

_"Don't you even think about it, Thor, or I swear I will let myself kill you like I've been itching to do for the past hour."_

Tony froze, opening his eyes. Loki didn't sound like Loki. Well, he did sound like Loki, but more female. Was Loki still in his Jotun form?

_"Stop, no; don't bring that up, please, Mother, no, shut up,"_ Tony felt a flood of embarrassment at those words and found himself blushing even though he had no idea why he was embarrassed or what he was embarrassed at. _"By the nine, no! I can't, no-Mother, don't you make me say it! I will not say it! No, I am switching configurations now, you've earned it."_

Tony felt this horrible pang in his head and he grabbed at his skull, wincing as the pain increased and then suddenly vanished. He felt a different pang in his head that let him know that Loki was using magic and he reached out again through the maze of confusion, finding relief when Loki answered.

_"Stark?"_ he said as if confused.

**"Yeah, it's me. I'm testing out my mind speak skills right now. Seems like it worked this time."**

_"This time?"_

**"I did it earlier, but you were in Jotun configuration I think, so I just heard a jumble of words."**

_"Ah, yes, my magic mind concerning my Jotun magic is still very much weak,"_ Loki sounded extremely embarrassed. _"You were probably reading her mind, I'm not sure."_

**"But I reached out toward you, Loki the Aesir."**

_"While mindset changes midst morph, the magic mind always stays. It makes it easier for spells and such. Not many people have configurations though, so I highly doubt it has been looked into much." _Tony nodded before he returned to the book. _"Why did you call for me? Thor and Mother just left and I believe I am strong enough to maintain a conversation with you without passing out with the effort. Luckily, you're performing most of the work, opening my magic mind and keeping it open while we speak."_

**"Oh,"** the mortal sorcerer frowned slightly as he traced a few runes in the book. **"I wanted to ask you about trace tracking spells. You said you were going to teach me that."**

_"Yes, I did. It's really easy though and since you've grasped the basic concept of the magic mind, it will be easier to explain."_

**"Come down here and explain it for me. I'd rather we speak face to face. Consider it a make-up lesson for the one skipped during Lokasenna."**

Loki laughed lightly at that, Tony could just imagine the god's smile. _"Alright, but only because you want me to and I feel bad for causing so much trouble."_

**"It's nothing really. I'm just glad you're okay and glad the bond is back. I shouldn't have told you about Baldr and I'm sorry about that."**

_"Thor would've done it if you hadn't. I'd rather it come from you, Stark."_

Loki ended the call there and Tony pondered over that last sentence. Wouldn't Loki want to hear of his brother's death from Thor? Thor was his other brother and the three Odinsons grew up together. Tony knew nothing about Baldr but the myths of his dreams and his impending death. He barely knew Loki himself, only that the god hated Thor, tried to subjugate Midgard, and then a ton of little things about the god's magic and Jotun form.

A minute or so later, Tony spotted a flash of green from the corner of his eye and turned, surprised to find Loki there so soon. The sorcerer god was dressed in armor, but there wasn't much gold to it and it wasn't really combat wear as much as it was formal prince armor wear or something along those lines.

"New armor?" Tony teased as the god took a seat, eyes closed as he placed his feet on the desk.

"Old armor. I wore it when Thor and I first went to Jotunheim. Before I found out of my heritage." green eyes opened and turned toward Tony before they looked up at the ceiling. "You want to know a trace tracking spell, correct?"

"Yeah, like how to track someone's magic trace. I understand you can feel when someone is using their magic, but can't you track it down through the trace?"

"It starts off by knowing the basis of the magic mind. When you know someone's trace, you can always feel when they use magic. You may not necessarily have access to their magic mind, but you always have access to yours. One's magic mind is a section of Ginnungagap meant for themselves. Ginnungagap is always around and in us, so we use it to our advantage. Everyone's magic leaves trails in Ginnungagap and by accessing your magic mind, you can see Ginnungagap and see the magic all around you, including your own." Loki closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair. "When you contacted me, what did you see and feel?"

"Confusion. Lots of colors and confusion. It didn't make any sense, it was like a maze of magic or something. Disoriented, but in the confusion, it made magic make sense if you get what I mean. Despite the distortion or anything like that, it was like seeing Ginnungagap during teleportation." Loki nodded with approval and spun in the chair, legs slipping off the desk in the process.

"Good. That is the essence of Ginnungagap. When you saw colors, you may have seen blue swirls, which is your magic. Try reaching for my magic mind once more and tell me if you see any other colors."

Tony raised an eyebrow but didn't protest as he closed his eyes and reached out again. He saw Ginnungagap again as he was supposed to, and also saw other swirls of colors besides blue. Red and green joined in the mix. He coughed as if he was choking and quickly opened his eyes, a hand at his chest. Loki was smirking in the chair, flickers of green on the tips of his elegant fingers. "What the hell happened?"

"There is another source of magic nearby and your magic mind detects it. Lock your concentration on it and then you will be able to track my trace so you have a general idea of where I am while using my magic."

"Oh, so like a built in GPS for magic, I see." Loki quirked an eyebrow, but said no more as he climbed out of the chair.

Tony could see that the god was very much still exhausted and pained as Loki stood, wincing a little as he stood on both legs. The god wasn't as pale as before, but his semi-rosy hew was mostly gone and replaced by a pale peach. He still looked handsome, but one could tell at first sight that Loki was not in good health. The sparks of magic on Loki's fingers grew slightly as the god walked through the lab, green eyes trained on Tony. The man didn't close his eyes this time around and watched as a light trail of green lead from the chair to Loki's current position. The god waved a hand and an orb of green floated in the air and soared through the air, also leaving a trail of green. Loki closed his eyes and created another orb, which left a red trail despite the magic being green.

"That's pretty awesome! But, what if you're not nearby? Like in a different realm or something. How do I track your trace down then?"

"The same way. Since you have their trace, you know the feeling of their magic. Ginnungagap will show you the way." The god trailed off slightly, before collapsing to his knees, all the magic in the air dispersing. Tony ran over to him and started to help him back up, but Loki shook his head and pushed him away. "It is nothing to worry about, Stark. I am still getting used to the ability to morph and my new magics."

"Oh man, I forgot about that!" Tony stood there awkwardly as Loki struggled back onto his feet.

"It is not just that. Midgard deteriorates magic." Realization struck Tony quickly at those words, "and I do not have that scepter to help it stay stable and strong without having to reacquaint myself with Ginnungagap."

"What? How did the scepter help keep your magic strong?"

"In the same manner that your arc reactor keeps your magic strong." Tony raised an eyebrow as Loki sat back down, green eyes closed as the god took deep breaths, sparks of green flashing around him. "Your arc reactor carries most of your magic inside. It protects your magic from the outside world where there is no magic in the air. The rest of your magic that is not in the arc reactor is dying out and loosing its power. There is no need to worry though; as soon as you are in touch with Ginnungagap, whether through teleportation or your magic mind, your magic comes back."

"So, that blue orb held your magic inside." Loki nodded slowly, the intensity of the green sparks increasing. "Why was it blue though if your magic is green?"

"Chitarian work." The god's voice was very hollow there. "Also, it was enchanted to enhance my magic and give it more power and positive magical charge. Blue stands for power as you already know. In a way, the orb was also a catalyst, allowing me to perform complex spells that would usually need more positive magical charge. The downside was that I had to constantly use my magic every minute of the day."

"Why is that?"

"The increase in magical charge made my magic extremely powerful and explosive, if you wish to put it that way. In order to not combust or lose the control I had over it, I had to constantly use it at high sparks per second. I believe at one point before my arrival here, my elskath was 112, 5988-plus and 617 sparks per second." Tony's eyes widened dramatically as those green eyes reopened and looked back up at the ceiling. "It was damaging to my body; such high charge was unusual and unhealthy for a Jotun, even if I was using Aesir magic, which can usually tolerate high charge and usage of magic."

"Damn, that's very unhealthy period," Tony pointed out, watching Loki with careful brown eyes. "Man, you look exhausted. I shouldn't keep you here explaining stuff."

"I enjoy it." Loki turned to face Tony with a soft smile, "And you enjoy it as well, so I might as well keep both parties happy."

"There's another way to do so that doesn't include so much talking." Tony froze slightly at his words as Loki raised a suggestive eyebrow. He really hoped his face was red as he took the god's hand. "C'mon, I'll take you on a tour of the tower before you go."

"But what about the Avengers?" the god questioned as he let Tony pull him out of the seat. Tony bit the inside of his cheek as the god lost some balance and leaned up against him, chests pressed together as they stood face to face. "Pardon me, the teleportation has weakened me more than I thought it would."

"Nah, it's fine." Tony smiled forcefully as Loki pulled away with a chuckle, brushing black locks from his pale face. Loki brushed the strands of hair behind his ear and Tony found his eyes trained on the god's hand, noticing how long his fingers were and how pristine his nails were and how gorgeous his glowing white skin was and- "Uh," he stuttered, turning away from Loki once those bright green eyes locked with his own brown ones, "let's go upstairs. The others are in a meeting with Fury and so they won't be out for a while."

Loki's brow furrowed, but he let the mortal sorcerer drag him upstairs into the room he had previously spoken with Tony in back during the invasion. This was where the Avengers mostly hung out, here in the "main room" as they called it. Steve, Bruce and Clint had rooms down the hall from the main room while Tony had one he never used on the floor below this one and Natasha was upstairs. On the occasion when Thor bunked over, his room was also upstairs with Natasha.

Loki walked over the floor-ceiling window and stared out at the city before him. Tony followed and watched a frown form on the god's lips. "Midgard has changed much since my last visit."

"It hasn't been that long really, only a few months. Five, I think."

"I do not consider my attack a visit, Stark," the god's voice was slightly irritated as he turned to the brunette. "You have read or heard of the legends of Asgard and such, correct?"

"Yeah, read up a bit after the invasion. Wanted to be prepared for more gods who decided to try to take over Earth." Loki snorted as he turned back toward the window.

"Most of those tales are true. Somewhat at least."

"Including the one of the horse?" the god's face turned extremely red as he quickly turned toward Tony, who was wiggling his eyebrows with a wide smirk.

"That is a complete falsehood; I know not where that tale came from!" Loki exclaimed, face only getting redder. Tony only snickered, which made Loki blush more. "There is no way possible I would bend over for a horse! Svadilfari wasn't even that strong a horse anyway."

"So, Sleipnir's not real?"

Loki opened his mouth to retort, but closed it as he turned, his back facing the window as he took on a contemplative look. "Oh, Sleipnir is very much real. He is Odin's royal steed now." Loki's voice took a stiff tone before he turned back to Tony. "And he is my son."

"How the hell do you get a son that's a horse? Are you really his mother?" Loki's face turned redder at that as he stared out at the room, making sure not to lock eyes with Tony. "Then how did it happen?"

"Drop the subject, Stark."

"Until you tell me what happened, I'm gonna assume you willingly had sex with a horse."

"I did no such thing!_ He_ is the one who jumped me! I didn't ask for him to-" Loki immediately cut himself off and stormed from the window, a snickering Tony right behind him. "Shut it, Stark. The only reason why you are still alive is because you're the Midgardian Sorcerer."

"And 'cause you like me and you know just how boring your life would be without me." Tony teased as Loki sat down, shaking his head with amusement. "Are you hungry? I'm hungry. I don't think I ate today. Jarvis, did I eat today?"

"No, sir, you have yet to consume anything today."

"Alright then. Order some pizza and then tell me when the delivery man comes." Jarvis replied with an affirmative and Loki wrinkled his brow with confusion. "It's Midgard food; you'll love it. Everyone does. Until then, we are going to watch a movie."

"A movie?" Loki questioned, watching as Tony turned on the television with a whistle. "I thought you were giving me a tour of the tower."

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind. Don't really feel like moving my legs anymore." Tony leaned back in his seat with a sigh. "Besides, I think we should take a day off, especially after the events of last night. I don't think the world will mind if we rest for a day and the day's almost over anyway. So, what do you want to watch? _Back to the Future_? Steve loves that, by the way. I don't even know why. Oh, wait, no, how about _The_ _Matrix_? That's a good one."

Loki simply blinked as Tony got the movie together, watching the mortal man with inquisitive eyes. "At times, I can not believe they have put so much faith in you."

Tony looked over from putting the disc in the dvd player, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Who's they?"

"Asgard. Vanaheim. All nine worlds to be exact." Loki smiled softly. "I can not say I am the exception though."

"Glad to hear you now have more trust in my magic." the man plopped back onto the couch with a grin. "Alright, prepare to have your mind blown. Not literally of course because that would just be not awesome. Just sit back and watch Neo do his thing."

Loki raised an eyebrow but said no more once the movie got started. Tony watched the god, who looked pretty entertained during the movie, but then suddenly, everything sort of went downhill. Loki placed his plate of pizza down and glared at the television, a snarl on his lips. Tony stopped the movie there and watched the god climb off the couch with stiff movements and obvious irritation.

"Uh," Tony said, spinning in his seat to watch the god walk to the stairs that led to the lab. "Where are you going?"

"Away."

"But why?"

Loki stopped as he stepped on the first step, turning to Tony with steely green eyes. "I can not watch that movie any longer. I'm returning to Asgard."

"What? No, you can't go yet. C'mon, what's got you so upset? I don't know why you're so angry, it's just a movie."

The god's face contorted into anger before exhaustion took over and he slumped against the wall, sitting on the steps. "She used to say the same things to me."

"Who said what," the brunette sat on his knees on the couch, leaning on the edge of the cushioned seat, chin on his hands, "because you are seriously confusing me."

"'Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony'. 'I can only show you the door. You have to walk through it'." Loki stared into space, eyes slightly glazed over. "Fulla used to love me. She used to care even though she hated me. I never understood why she was so unforgiving to me and why suddenly, she started to care. Fulla would say such things to me when she took care of me and Thor. Little tips of advice to help me later in life. I took them lightly and now look at this."

The sorcerer god chuckled lightly, turning green eyes on Tony. "Well, think about it," the man started, walking toward Loki, "I know it gets you upset, but it sort of applies to what's happening right now with Ragnarok and stuff. We're trying to make sure you don't lead the army. We're going to make sure Ragnarok does not happen. It's like what Morpheus said: 'Sooner or later you're going to realize, just as I did, that there's a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.' You've got to start walking yours, Loki. The path you want to walk down."

The god's eyes glazed over as Tony knelt next to him, leaning against the wall shoulder to should with Loki. "She didn't like the idea of a Jotun in the royal family and tried so hard to dislike me. Just when she could finally accept me, I end up ruining it all with that whole stint back when Thor was banished. I only sealed the deal of her not liking me with the invasion. I believe she told me those things as a hint toward what the volva have predicted for me to do. I would never understand though and now, I do, but it is too late. Fulla has given up on me. She doesn't believe I can teach you to be prepared and in turn, not start Ragnarok."

"Well, we can both prove her wrong on that then," Tony patted the top of Loki's head and the god gave him a look. "C'mon, we'll get some chocolate and watch something else that shouldn't be so emotion inducing."

The two ended up watching _Rent_ while eating rocky road ice cream.

Loki had calmed down a bit and was currently cuddling against Tony, his head against the man's shoulder. Tony looked over at Loki and smiled, pleased that the god was relaxing for what seemed like the first time in years. Loki's hair was pulled back into a ponytail (Tony did it because he claimed he didn't want Loki to get ice cream in his hair, but he really just wanted an excuse to run his fingers through the god's locks). Green eyes were trained on the movie musical before them, bright and concentrated. The god had changed clothing earlier after the whole _Matrix_ and Fulla incident, now wearing a simple green tunic and black leather pants.

Tony brushed a loose strand of raven black hair from Loki's forehead and watched those green eyes turn toward him with curiosity. The god's face had gained a rosy hue and his cheeks and nose were bright red as he smiled up at Tony. The man himself froze when Loki reached a tender hand out and brushed his thumb across Tony's lips. Tony immediately flushed at the contact and looked away, unable to keep eye contact. His mind was racing and the blood was going other places now and oh god, Loki needed to get off him this instant.

"You had something on your face," Loki explained, also sounding a bit embarrassed at his actions. More shows of affection, anyone?

"It's nothing," Tony mumbled, finally looking over at Loki, who's eyes were trained on the movie where Mimi was dancing at the club, singing about her job and stuff. Red stained the god's cheeks as he ate his ice cream, still up against Tony, and then _bam!_ Tony suddenly realized that this was a date.

Loki and he were having a date.

_Holy shit._

"Loki," he said, distracting the god from watching Mimi go distract Roger about something, "you do realize that this is sort of a date, right?"

Loki crinkled his brow and then 'oh'ed with realization before shrugging, returning to his movie. "It may be if you wish it to. I wouldn't mind either way."

_Did Loki just give him the green light on them dating?_

Tony didn't say anything, still trying to wrap his head around Loki's words. He suddenly became more aware of how close Loki really was and was off blushing again. Why was he so embarrassed; acting like a teenage boy finally taking that girl he likes out on a date? Okay, bad analogy because that was exactly what was going on.

Loki placed down his ice cream bowl on the table and started humming _Today for You_ as he untied his hair. Tony joined in with untying the god's hair so Loki could watch the movie with little distraction (Tony himself had already seen it plenty of times) and found himself leaning against the arm of the couch with Loki between his legs and holy shit, Loki was leaning his head against one of his legs and Tony couldn't think anymore, nope, all genius gone.

They watched the movie in silence, Tony's brain on shutdown as he watched the god between his legs, and whoa was that a thought that completely went down the gutter and got him blushing again. He found himself massaging Loki's scalp toward the end of the movie, the god humming along with _Seasons of Love_. Tony joined in too toward the end of the song and was practically glowing inside when Loki looked up at him with a grin, and damn, the height difference was messing up Tony's brain because all he had to do was lean down slightly, just a bit, and then he could finally feel those lips against his own and claim what was rightfully his (rightfully his in his mind at least).

And it would've happened. It could've happened. But the hesitation of wondering if Loki was sending the wrong signals was ill-timed as Jarvis scared the shit out of him, causing Tony to tumble off the arm of the couch. Loki leaned over the arm and smirked down at Tony, who was grumbling as he climbed off the wooden floor.

"What did you say again, Jarv?"

"The meeting with Fury is over and the Avengers are currently on their way to this floor."

Loki's eyes widened as he practically jumped off the couch and turned to Tony, who was panicking, trying to figure out a way to hide Loki. "I could teleport away, although I think my magic is too weak for that."

"No, no, follow me," Tony grabbed Loki's hand and ran with him down a hall to the bedroom he usually ended up sleeping in after a nightly event with the Avengers. "You stay in here and keep your mouth shut. They can not know you're here."

"That is pretty obvious, Anthony," Loki drawled and Tony grinned inwardly at Loki's use of his first name, even though he typically hated it and preferred Tony. The man leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the god's cheek before shutting the door and walking to the main room, where the group of heroes were just filing out of the elevator.

"You guys are finally back from the party you didn't invite me to." the brunette teased as he splayed out on the couch, turning off the movie.

"Looks like you had a party here." Clint pointed out, motioning to the pizza box and the ice cream bowls.

"Yeah, solo pity parties are awesome. I even watched _Rent_."

Bruce snorted at that one as Clint rolled his eyes. Natasha spoke up, "We were going to invite you, but Fury demanded you stay in bed. He said something about you deserving your rest."

Suspicions arose in Tony's head; did Fury somehow know he was the Midgardian Sorcerer? "Why did he say that? Everyone knows Fury hates me like fuck."

"You came in late last night with a destroyed suit. He figured you would be the most stressed, given that you were all panicking and stuff arriving back on Earth." Bruce answered and all that did was ring more of Tony's suspicion bells.

"There's something you're not telling me." the man noticed Clint and Natasha exchange glances, so yeah, there was something they were not telling him.

"Fury wanted to send you up to Asgard as a spy and keep you there until Ragnarok." Steve blurted out, blue eyes full of guilt. "I'm sorry, Tony; I tried to tell him you were much needed here, not in Asgard, but-"

"It's totally fine, I get it. Fury just wants me out of his skin." Oh, how convenient that was this time! "Asgard seemed pretty cool until Loki attacked anyway. I'll hang out with Thor, we'll be armor buddies and stuff, it'll be awesome."

Steve looked pretty hurt at Tony's quick acceptance of the notion of moving to Asgard. "Do you really want to move to Asgard?"

_"They ask a good question, Stark,"_ Loki's voice added to the confusion rushing through his head, _"Would you really want to live amongst gods a mere human?"_

**"I'd be with you."** he replied, smiling as he felt a rush of embarrassment from Loki.

_"And who says I would even want that in the first place?"_

**"I do. Plus actions speak louder than words."**

"Tony?" Bruce questioned, raising a confused eyebrow as Tony became distracted with his banter with Loki.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, um, Asgard is pretty awesome. Living there would be cool. I mean, spying and stuff wouldn't be fun, I'm not the best spy, so maybe Natasha should go. Or a different SHIELD agent. Why me?"

"Because you're an Avenger, Asgard already trusts you, and no one would suspect you of spying." Steve replied, voice sounding so guilty with every word. "Fury fears that Asgard is making up the Ragnarok thing to get all the other worlds to want Asgard's protection and basically unite with Asgard."

"What makes him think that?"

"The prospect of there being a Midgardian Sorcerer." Natasha replied this time, brown eyes trained on Tony. "No one on Earth can use magic; we don't have it. It's impossible for there to be someone who uses magic here and if there were someone who could use magic, Fury would know already."

"I still don't get how this ties in with me spying on Asgard."

"He wants someone already acquainted with Asgard to spy and see how true these rumors of the fabled Midgardian Sorcerer are. If Ragnarok is really coming, then who is the Midgardian Sorcerer and how come no one's seen him? If the fables are simply spread lies to unite the worlds so Asgard has power over them, then we need to know so Earth doesn't get tossed into the mix."

"Why would you even think Asgard would do such a thing? Why would such a rumor be spread about to accomplish the goal of power over the nine worlds?"

"Asgard is the land of the _war_ gods, Tony," Clint responded, turning to exchange glances with Natasha and Bruce, "They've done stuff like this before. Go pillaging through worlds establishing their power. Thor used to just randomly kill people that didn't agree with him. Odin tricked people into getting killed by Thor. Ragnarok is a war. They either want this or spread rumors about it to get people on their side. Until we get more information about this, Fury's very suspicious and wants a spy up there."

"C'mon dude, why would I agree to that? I'm betraying someone's trust doing that and if Asgard is the land of the war gods like you say, when they find out, not if, when because we both know they will find out, Earth can expect an intergalactic war on our hands."

_"Stark, do it,"_

**"What?" **Tony almost spoke aloud as he heard Loki's voice.

_"I want you to accept the deal. Spy on Asgard and prove that Ragnarok is not a joke. Then tell Fury of your occupation as the Midgardian Sorcerer."_

**"He'll chew me out if I do that! And then he'll ****_kill_**** me when he finds out I've been with you these past few weeks! No one can know, Loki. Not until the villains attack, if I don't get to them first."**

_"You can tell Odin the truth then. Tell him Midgard is distrustful and wants proof."_

**"But that defeats the whole point of spying!"**

_"You have no time for lessons or searching for villains if you spend your time lurking around Asgard for proof you carry in your blood, Stark. Accept the spying deal, tell Odin of Midgard's suspicions, and let Fury know who you really are."_

Tony let out a held back groan as he grabbed at his hair, flopping onto his back with irritation. **"God damn it Loki, you are going to be the death of me."**

_"Your words are too true."_

**"Stop it right there; you are not going to be the harbinger of Ragnarok, not over my dead body. Oh wait, no, don't take that seriously, I said the wrong thing."**

Loki simply chuckled lightly, his airy laugh ringing in the back of Tony's head. _"No worries, Stark, I believe in you now. At least a bit more than before."_

**"What did I do to deserve this change of heart?"** the man smiled as he ignored his friends, who were explaining the details of the meeting with Fury to him. **"Don't tell me the god of fire and mischief has gone soft for a mortal."**

_"By the nine, of course not, and if I had, it certainly would not be you."_

**"Whatever helps you sleep at night, babe."**

_"Babe?"_

**"You don't like that one? Hmm, then how about honey? Or sweetie pie? Or darling, my love, sweetcheeks, reindeer, hot stuff-"**

_"Stop with the names, Stark."_

**"Babe it is. Let's test it out, hmm?"**

_"No, get your friends away so I can get out of this room once and for all."_

**"Ain't gonna happen, babe. They want to give me the rundown."**

_"Do not call me babe, Stark."_

**"Then don't call me Stark, babe."**

_"By Odin's beard, you are more infuriating than Thor getting drunk,"_ the god spat, but his words were laced with affection and teasing.

**"I try my best."**

_"I can tell. Only you would try so hard to get under my skin."_

**"Or under something else,"** Tony tried to hide the smirk that crawled onto his lips as Loki went off on a tirade**. "Calm down, my love, I only tease because you make it so fun."**

_"What did I say about the pet names, Stark?"_

**"****_Meow_****, someone's getting feisty,"** Tony purred, getting an influx of embarrassment from Loki.

_"I am not getting anything!"_

**"You aren't? No wonder why you're so high strung all the time. I would totally try to take over a couple worlds if I wasn't getting any."**

_"Stark!"_

"**Stop yelling my name and save that for the bedroom."**

More embarrassment from Loki. _"That's it, this call is over."_

**"Does the thought of you and I disgust you so much you're hanging up on me?" **That was partially playful, but Tony knew he had a serious tone in the message as well.

Loki didn't reply for a little while and when he did, his voice was off. Sort of unsure. _"No, quite the opposite."_

Tony couldn't tell if that was sarcasm or not but he couldn't ask since Loki ended the call. He turned to his friends, who were arguing between themselves now, completely ignoring Tony, who was fine with the lack of attention for once. He stepped from the couch, gathering their attention, and started cleaning up the mess he and Loki had left.

"I'll be the spy and figure out who this Midgardian Sorcerer is and report it to Fury. Don't worry, unlike Thor, I'll visit. Besides, I shouldn't be gone long. It won't take much effort to find out if Ragnarok is real or not."

Steve nodded with approval. "Good. I'm sorry it has to be this way."

"Don't fret, Capsicle. I won't be leaving immediately; I have to fix up my suit and who knows how long that will take," Tony turned away from the blonde soldier and picked up Loki's ice cream bowl. "Until then, make the most of your time with me."

The brunette turned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at the group of heroes, most of whom rolled their eyes (and Steve who snapped at Tony not to do that while blushing like mad). The Avengers soon dispersed after awkward goodbyes; none of them knew if they would see Tony again anytime soon and by then, he could be gone and up in Asgard.

Once the others were out of sight, Tony finished cleaning up and went to the bedroom Loki was in, finding the god laying on the bed with green and red orbs floating around him. The god was concentrated on whatever he was doing, green eyes slightly glazed over, until Tony shut the door. Loki turned toward him and scowled before waving a hand, all the magic disappearing and seeping into the ambient air.

"How long do you plan on staying here until you go to Asgard?" Loki asked, climbing off the bed as Tony walked toward him.

"Until I finish my suit like I told them." The man shrugged and plopped onto the bed, looking up at Loki, who was hovering over him, arms crossed. "What's up?"

"It is getting late and I fear Mother and Thor are worrying over me," green eyes turned up to the ceiling. "I am still not strong enough to teleport myself over and I wish not to place such a burden on you, given that the task may kill you."

"Then stay here for the night." Loki turned on Tony, with wide eyes. "No one knows you're here and no one will suspect me of being here anyway. I told them I'm working on my suit, so I'm sure they think I'm downstairs or something."

Loki narrowed his eyes at Tony, but agreed with a sigh, sitting down beside the man, fiddling with his armor awkwardly. Tony rolls over and gets back on his feet, walking over to the dresser. "I know for sure you don't sleep in armor, I mean, seriously, how could you sleep in that stuff? Anyway, since you're staying the night, I figure I should give you some random stuff to wear to bed or something. What do you say to that?"

"Okay?" Tony turned to look over at Loki, who looked quite confused, yet slightly amused. The man tossed over a t-shirt and a pair of sweats, wondering when those got up in the room (given that he rarely uses this room). "You want me to wear this?"

"Hey, it's all I've got. Take it or leave it. Or magic on some Asgardian sleep wear, I don't really care." Loki snorted as Tony grabbed a different shirt and proceeded to put it on, back facing Loki. "So, do you have an estimate for how long it'll take for the villains to attack?"

"No," the god replied, his voice slightly muffled. Tony turned with a raised eyebrow as he straightened his shirt, ceasing in his actions as Loki pulled off his green tunic. _Oh god_. "I can only assume it is soon even though I am not locked up or anything along those lines. Perhaps it will not occur as long as I am not bound up. I know not. I highly doubt the villains will even abide by the preset rules of Ragnarok, especially if the volva told a prophecy of a Midgardian Sorcerer who is to save us all."

"Good point," Tony mumbled, averting his gaze as Loki tugged on the t-shirt he had passed over. "I think tomorrow I should go scouting for these villains. Try to find some clues. Maybe ask a couple of those cat burglars if they've heard anything."

"Cat burglars?" Loki questioned, looking up at Tony with confusion.

"Yeah, before this whole magic thing, I used to go around fighting neighborhood crime. Really cheap stuff nowhere close to the magnitude of damage you made." The god nodded with a small smirk. "Sometimes, we team up with this brat Peter Parker, but he doesn't really hang around much. I'm sure he'll come in handy for Ragnarok though. I think every superhero will."

"There are more heroes than just the Avengers?"

"Yup. The Avengers hadn't really grouped up until you arrived anyway. Solo's more my style; I tend not to work well with others."

"I can see why one would think that." Tony sent a playful glare Loki's way as he climbed onto the left side of the bed. "I tend to work solo myself, but before then, I was Thor's companion and occasionally fought with Sif and the Warriors Three."

"And now look at us. Two assholes working together to save the nine worlds."

Loki laughed aloud at that, also climbing onto his side of the bed. "Oh, the nine should be worried with the hands they have placed their survival in."

Silence took over as the realization sunk in that they were in a bed together. _Alone._ They were completely on opposite sides on their backs, tension in the air as they forced themselves not to turn. Tony bit his bottom lip as he closed his eyes, wondering why in the world he thought it was a good idea to do this.

Slumber parties are cool and all, but damn, this was getting uncomfortable and awkward and Tony still couldn't get the image of half-naked Loki out his head and-

"Have I told you the story of when Thor had to dress up as a bride to retrieve Mjolnir?"

Tony turned his head to look over at Loki, who was still looking up at the ceiling. "Nah, I don't think you have."

Loki grinned, turning his head as well to lock eyes with Tony. "It was years ago and we were quite young for Aesir. My magic was strong, but I had little control over it and was more a master of combat magic like Odin than shapeshifting magic or other types of magic. Thor had just recently received Mjolnir as his combat weapon, he used to have a sword, and he loved the poor thing immensely. He kept it by his bedside to keep it company and declared that anyone who would steal his hammer would be on his bad side.

"Needless to say, one day Thor woke up and his hammer was gone. He came to me an angry mess, asking me why I had stolen the hammer. I told him I hadn't taken it; I couldn't lift it for my life. We then went to Frigga, who told us she knew not who could lift the hammer and take it. Fulla and Hlin said the same, so we decided to visit Freyr and Freya and ask them about the hammer. They both said they hadn't seen it and knew of no one who could lift it but Thor and Odin. Freya did lend me her hawk cloak, which when wearing, allowed any sorcerer or sorceress to turn into a hawk. I donned it and proceeded to Jotunheim after hearing gossip of a mountain giant who bragged about stealing the legendary hammer of Asgard from right under the elder prince's nose."

Tony noticed that he was laying on his side now, facing Loki as the god did the same. The gap between them was slowly getting smaller as Loki told the story.

"I went to the giant, whose name was Thrym and who was also the king of the mountain giants, and asked him while under a disguise if he would return the hammer to Thor. Thrym said he would only return the hammer if he could have Freya as his wife. I returned to Asgard and announced the giants' proposal, which outraged Freya. She would not marry a giant just to return Thor's hammer and avidly protested against the idea. No one knew what to do and I was still a bit sore from Thor automatically thinking I was the one who had stolen the hammer. So, I proposed an idea." Loki's devilish smirk donned his lips as he lightly chuckled. "I told Odin and the others that Thor should dress up as Freya and retrieve the hammer himself. They both had blonde and blue eyes and as long as Thor didn't speak, everything would go according to plan. Thor was absolutely outraged and protested the idea. Unfortunately for him, Odin, Frigga, Fulla and the others agreed with me. As a compromise, because I also felt bad for the blonde oaf, I agreed to join Thor as a bridesmaid."

"What? You dressed up as well?" Tony exclaimed, watching Loki nod as he smiled with amusement.

"Indeed. The royal maids of the palace spent days working on our dresses, making them the most luxurious and elegant wedding dresses I had ever seen. Thor was livid the whole time, as he had the most fitting done and the more extravagant dress. Once the dresses were complete, Thor and I traveled over to Jotunheim and to Thrym's house where the mountain Jotun lived. Thrym was very pleased to see who he thought as Freya there and he decided that after the feast, he would return Thor's hammer. Thor was not pleased, but I managed to calm him down. Unfortunately, Thor was quite hungry and managed to eat an entire ox, eight salmons and drank three measures of mead. I was practically frozen in my seat as Thor ate and Thrym, plus his kin, watched him with confusion. Thrym asked why his bride was eating and drinking so much and I managed a little lie that Thrym's bride to be was so eager to arrive in Jotunheim that she did not eat or drink for eight nights. Thrym accepted that as the feast went on and I was sure we would get back the hammer easily with no more trouble. That is until Thrym lifted Thor's veil and tried to kiss him."

"Oh my god," Tony blurted out, laughter bubbling out his chest. "Holy crap, he tried to kiss Thor? Ah man, Thor will never live this down."

Loki laughed lightly as well, a soft smile on his face. "I must admit, I was completely dumbfounded, shocked and unsure of what to do. Thor growled angrily and Thrym pulled away with confusion, turning to me. He asked me why Freya's eyes were so fearful and why her eyes were flaming mad. I told the giant king that Freya had not slept either; she was so eager to arrive in Jotunheim. He accepted that easily and once the feast was done, ordered a servant to bring over Mjolnir. Thor lost it at the sight of his hammer and proceeded to go on a rampage, killing all the giants in the home, effectively killing the king of the mountain giants and his kin."

"Clint wasn't kidding when he said Thor killed people who didn't agree with him."

"Sadly, that was the case. Thor got his hammer back though, and we returned to Asgard heroes." Loki's voice tapered off as his cheeks reddened. Tony's brow furrowed until he realized how close they were, practically face to face.

"Uh," Tony stuttered, starting to pull back a bit. Loki shook his head, face burning bright red as he did so. They awkwardly avoided eye contact until Tony asked a question. "There are two types of Jotuns?"

"Yes, mountain Jotuns and frost Jotuns. The mountain Jotuns are not Asgard's enemy and don't really interact with other worlds. The frost Jotun, whose leader was Laufey before I killed him, fought with Asgard more often and made more enemies with the other worlds than the other Jotuns."

"Speaking of frost Jotuns, do you think you would mind showing me your Jotun configuration? You don't have to if you don't want to, I mean, I understand if you-"

Loki cut Tony off with a finger to the man's lips, an amused smile on his own. "You deserve to know, Stark."

Tony said no more as Loki took a deep breath, pulling his finger from Tony's lips. A light blue tinge appeared on the god's fingers before it spread across his skin, coating his skin in a rich blue. Linear and curve patterns danced across Loki's skin, etched in as markings and symbols of something he knew not. Loki's green eyes darkened to a crimson red as his nails lengthened a bit and turned black. His lips stained blue and horns grew from his head as his hair lengthened. The god grew a bit slimmer and his facial features softened before he closed his eyes and opened them up again, the morph complete.

"Wow," Tony gasped, reaching out a hand for Loki's cheek. She scowled lightly but let him press his fingers to her skin. "Nothing bad is gonna happen if I touch you, right?"

"Correct. I have cast a spell on myself that will allow one to touch my skin and be safe." Tony still couldn't get over the change of voice. "Don't do that."

"Don't do what?" The man smirked as he continued tracing the embossed patterns on her light blue skin, watching her cheeks darken slightly. "What are the patterns for?"

"In Jotunheim, they symbolize status. These are royal markings." Red eyes looked away from brown. "I'm also the princess of Jotunheim. I have two brothers, one of which is the king, and I am younger than both of them."

"It's beautiful." Tony marveled at the alien skin, loving the texture beneath his fingers and the odd glow in the darkness of the bedroom.

"Flattery is unnecessary, Stark," Loki spat, sounding more embarrassed than anything else.

"I'm not trying to flatter you, Loki, it's just-" Tony cut himself off as he traced the patterns down the god's arm. "You're so beautiful like this."

Loki's face completely darkened and he felt her embarrassment before she covered her face with her hands, mumbling for Tony to stop touching her arm. He chuckled and continued to her fingers, lightly pulling them away from her face. Red eyes bore into brown as they laid there in the silence, only the sound of their breathing echoing in the room. Tears started to well in Loki's eyes and Tony immediately pulled away, worried he had done something wrong.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

Loki cut him off with a shake of her head, a small smile on her lips as she wiped away the tears. "No, you've done nothing wrong, Stark. I just-no one's ever told me that before. Just Thor and I think he gets paid to tell me I'm beautiful. Fulla couldn't look me in the eyes and Odin could barely do so himself. Only Frigga and Thor did and to hear someone else who's not them tell me something like that makes me happy."

Tony took the god into his arms and pressed her to his chest, cradling her head lightly as she accidentally wet his shirt with tears. She mumbled something into his neck, a sorry for wetting his shirt, but he didn't care for the apology as he kissed the top of her head. "You're beautiful as Aesir Loki," he started, holding her tighter, "you're beautiful as Jotun Loki, you're absolutely gorgeous no matter what configuration you take and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise."

She wrapped her arms around him in return, telling him thank you as they held on to each other. Tony pulled away lightly, wiping a tear from her face as the blue dispersed and peachy white took its place. A blue hand reached for Tony's face and the man watched the arm attached to the hand lighten to Loki's Aesir skin color. Red eyes lightened to Loki's classic poison green and Tony found himself face to face with the Loki he first met, their breaths mingling in the tiny gap between their mouths.

Tony closed it first, leaning forward to take the god's lips with his own. Loki's eyes slid closed as he kissed back, cupping Tony's cheek as the man pulled him closer. The sounds of rustling blankets and sloppy kissing reverberated throughout the room as the two cuddled closer, caught in the moment. Tony cupped the back of Loki's head as they rolled over, the god hovering over Tony with a leg between the man's two legs. Tony let his hands trail down Loki's back and grab his hips as kiss deepened and Loki worked his silvertongue, turning Tony into a puddle of incoherent mess.

Breathing was a stupid excuse for having to pull away from the heavenly kisses and Loki thought so too as he peppered Tony's neck with kisses when the man pulled away to breathe. Somehow, Tony found himself on top of Loki, the god's arms around his neck as they groaned and moaned against each other, lost in the moment of passion and lust. Loki smirked when his leg brushed up between Tony's legs.

"Shut up," he mumbled against the god's lips, feeling his face heat up. "At least it's not magic induced. And I'm not the only one."

Loki's face went completely red as he shoved a laughing Tony off him, sitting up with his arms crossed. Tony giggled as he sat up, running a hand through his mess up hair. Loki sent him a glare and curled up on the bed, back facing Tony. Tony himself let out a couple more laughs before he curled up beside Loki, who relaxed slightly as Tony wrapped his arms around the god's waist.

"Tired?"

"Yes. I also need my rest to return to Asgard tomorrow." The god certainly sounded a bit winded and tired.

"I don't think I said this, but thanks for showing me your other configuration."

"There is no need to thank me. As I said before, you deserved to see it." Loki's words were slightly slurred. Tony wondered how much stamina the god had. It was only a day since Lokasenna though, so Loki had to be extremely tired and weak since Midgard had no magic.

Tony closed his eyes and let out a gentle breath as he cuddled against the exhausted god. "Well, goodnight Loki."

"Hmm, yes, goodnight, my love."

Wait, what?

* * *

THE KISS. IT HAPPENED. It wasn't supposed to happen in this chapter, but it came out that way. Oh well. I rewrote this chapter so many times I was just like "fuck it, they're kissing at the end". Anyway, I hope to post chapter 10 soon, but I got finals next week (ugh) and I'm still sick (double ugh). Thanks for the reviews, I love them all! Until next time!~


	10. Shifting

**scarletcat969: **I'm glad you like the story and here's some more for you!~

**Fiona12690: **"Another amazing work of art" That's quite the compliment if I've never heard one! Thank you for it, I appreciate the kind words very much, darling. :) Yeah, I tried so hard to delay the kiss, but you know xD I'm glad you liked the date, I'm pleased with how it worked out myself. Ah, thanks for the feedback on the explanations of magic, I wasn't sure if it was too detailed or intricate. It makes sense in my head, but there's a few theories I haven't touched in the story yet, and I despise rereading my work, so there were a few things I pushed over to the next chapter because I didn't want go back and double check to see what I've explained and what I haven't xD The pet name is adorable and it'll have more significance later. As will Loki's story about Thrym and Mjolnir :D

**undeadTyrant:** All kisses appreciated xD I'm glad you like the story so much, especially the plot. I'm writing it for someone on dA and while the plot is mine, the prompt of Tony being of Asgardian blood is not my idea. (the story description is the prompt lol) Still, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much!

* * *

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 10:** _Shifting_

Rating: T+ ('cause stuff happens *wink wink*)

Length: 8,786

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: "I think I might like to change that bond we share," Tony muttered against Loki's neck, feeling the god's hum of approval.

* * *

When Tony woke up the next day, he had to admit he was quite startled to find himself face to face with a sleeping god of mischief. Before the events of last night could sink in, the man found himself jumping out of bed with shock, in turn waking a very confused Loki, who also jumped out the bed with horror.

"What in the nine am I wearing?" the god exclaimed, running a hand through his hair before looking between Tony and the bed. "What happened?"

"Something happened, I don't know," Tony panicked, hitting the side of his head to see if anything could resurface. "I didn't get wasted last night because I was with you the whole time."

"We didn't _do_ anything, correct?"

Loki's face was paling as he started pacing, waving a gentle hand that dressed him in the armor he had arrived in.

"No," Tony racked his brain, "but we did kiss, I think."

"Oh no," Loki slumped against a bare wall, head in his hands as he mumbled some random stuff in Old Norse. "Why is it I can not remember? What is wrong with my-"

The god suddenly gasped and Tony twitched as a flash of something went through his head, mentally blinding him but for a second. Loki got off the ground and dusted himself off as Tony pressed his hands to his temples with a groan. "I certainly feel like I got wasted. What the fuck is going on?"

"Midgard and magic do not mix." Loki spat, turning green eyes on Tony. "And neither do we."

"I'm still confused; how does Midgard and magic suddenly turn into you and me? I mean, dude, I still don't remember what happened last night." The brunette rubbed at the back of his head with a frown. "Is it some magic spell that wiped my memory? Did watching _Rent_ really do that to me?"

Loki looked over at Tony and then his eyes widened with realization. "No, you don't remember anything because you have my magic."

Tony's brow creased with confusion as Loki stepped over to him, eyes trained on his chest. The man looked down and nearly squealed aloud as he saw his arc reactor glowing green. He pressed his fingers to it with a gasp. "Holy shit, what the hell is this?"

"Something happened last night connected to our magic. My magic associates its protection with you." Tony was still confused. "Midgard erodes magic. Last night, someone used magic and their magic died out. That someone was most likely me. Either way, somehow I made contact with Ginnungagap and my magic has returned but it has come to you. I tried to access it and you were affected."

"That doesn't sound too good."

"No, it's not." Tony stiffened a bit as Loki tapped at his arc reactor. "I have never heard of magic that is attracted to someone else's _vapn_."

"Vapn? That means weapon in English."

"Yes, it does. People of the other worlds do not live on Midgard and contain their magic either inside their body, like a sorcerer or sorceress, or in a weapon to power said weapon. There is no need for a protective container like what you have, and like what I had with the scepter." The god ran his fingers across the glass surface of the green arc reactor. "I can not recall what it is we have done because our magic minds are intertwined and until I can get my magic away from yours, I will be utterly confused about our past interactions."

"Like, all of our past interactions?"

"Yes," green eyes looked down into brown, "as in right now, I have no idea who you are and I am completely confused as to why I feel like I know you and have a deep connection with you."

"What? But then why do I know who you are and, _oh god_, memories are flooding in," Tony pulled away from Loki with a hand to his chest, "Something about a Jotun form and Thor kissing a mountain Jotun and flirting and Steve and living in Asgard and-holy shit, my brain feels like it's going to explode."

"There must be something in Asgard that can explain this. Whatever has happened between us, whoever you are, is strictly magic based." Loki started pacing as Tony gripped his head and started moaning. "You are the Midgardian Sorcerer I assume."

"Yes, and you're my teacher."

Loki spun on his heel to face Tony. "I am your teacher and I wake up in the same bed as you?"

"Well, it's complicated."

"I see," Loki gave the moaning sorcerer a look before continuing his pacing. "Frigga wanted me to teach the Midgardian Sorcerer to prepare for Ragnarok. Ragnarok has not occurred yet, has it, mortal man?"

"My name is Tony Stark," Tony looked over at Loki, "and Ragnarok has not begun. Look, how come I am the one who remembers you, but you can't remember anything about me or us or anything?"

"I said our relationship is magic based. Without my magic, it does not exist. If the relationship does not exist, I do not know you."

Tony wasn't sure which was worse, finding out your relationship with someone you cared deeply for was magic, or that the person you cared deeply for hated your guts. Right now, he was sort of wishing the latter had occurred. Or that it had stayed that way.

"So, can you remember how to untwine magic minds? Because I don't think it's normal to have two magic minds. I feel like I'm dying over here." Loki smiled slightly and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, , but bond magic has never been my strong suit."

"Damn! Okay, what is the last thing you remember doing?"

"Sleeping. I remember everything that has happened to me Stark, I just don't remember you."

Okay, well that took the cake for being the worst words anyone could ever utter to Tony.

"So, it's back to square one for a stretch." The man averted making eye contact with Loki, who looked really sorry he couldn't remember Tony. "Well, until we can get this stuff situated, teach me a bit about magic."

"What do you know?"

Tony proceeded to tell Loki everything the god had previously taught him, finding it hard to interact with the god knowing Loki knew nothing about him and thought him a complete stranger. It could be worse though. Loki could not recall anything post-invasion, which would've ended up with Tony most likely getting defenestrated once more. It was like starting from scratch instead of building more to a previous structure, the previous structure being Tony and Loki's post-invasion pre-Midgardian Sorcerer relationship.

(Basically still thinking each other the enemy.)

"Hmm, well, knowing myself and the situation at hand, I believe I was going to teach you about shapeshifting magic. I'm surprised at how much I trust you as to teach you my most valuable skill."

"Yeah, we were close."

"I could tell." Loki nodded his head toward the bed, a small smirk on his lips. "First though, I want to tell you a few things regarding what you've told me I've explained to you. It might clear up a few things and give light to a way we can give me back my magic and restore whatever we had before."

"Explain away, Sensei."

"You told me our magic traces have been encoded since birth, yet at this discovery, I was using seithr magic."

"Yup. Your seithr magic trace has been encoded in my magic mind since my birth."

"But I had never used seithr magic until after the invasion and my escape from prison." Tony's mouth widened to an 'o'. "How can I have a seithr magic trace if I've never used it before your birth?"

"How could I have an Aesir magic trace if I had never used it before your birth and you had it encoded since your birth?"

"We raise good questions, but I only know the answer to one. I have had a seithr magic trace since birth. Odin gave it to me. Configuration magic is only used with seithr magic and in order to give me a second configuration of Aesir, Odin had to us seithr magic, effectively giving me a seithr magic trace." The god started pacing again. "I still question how I have your trace encoded if you weren't even alive at my birth. Our magic is the same though, but what magic? Is my seithr magic the same as your Aesir magic? Or have you been performing seithr magic the whole time? Why are the traces of two different forms of magic the same?"

"I really don't know." Tony replied, sighing lightly. "I never questioned it, I mean, it made sense at the time. How does this tie in with the magic mind though?"

"Our magic minds were conceived with each other's traces encoded. Can you feel my trace even though I am not using magic?" Tony blinked. "Never mind that. Have there ever been strange occurrences between our magic?"

"Yeah. You spit fire and I get boners when our magic becomes imbalanced. Our magic only becomes imbalanced near each other."

"Really?" Loki stopped pacing and walked back to Tony, eyes trained on the arc reactor. "Our magic is very similar then. Much more than I originally thought."

"My magic also turns green near you. It hasn't happened recently, given that I haven't been using tons of magic near you recently, but yeah."

Loki's eyes widened as he pulled away from Tony, a look of horror etched across his face. "No, this can not be true. It turns green only near me?"

"Um, yeah? You told me it was just the duplicate magic that caused that to happen."

Loki shook his head as he laughed lightly. "Yes, duplicate magic is the reason why your magic turns green, mortal. Traces are rarely ever the same and even then if they are, the elskath are different enough to further identify and separate the similarities and differences between people. If your magic is turning the color of my magic only near me, it means your magic is adapting to my elskath."

"Does that mean what I think it does?"

"It means sooner or later, all of our magic and our magic minds will be the same. There will be no difference between you and I, Mr. Stark, except for appearance and personality. Everything based on magic will be _exactly_ the same." Tony paled; that did not sound like a good thing at all. Plus, his head was throbbing and there was this horrible clash of melodies in the back of his head that made him want to scream.

Loki pressed his hand to the arc reactor before looking up into brown eyes and continuing, "There is one way to stop such a thing from happening, but first, we must release my magic from your _vapn_. Until then, my magic mind and your magic mind will reach equilibrium and there will be no turning back."

"Holy shit, why is this happening to _me?"_ the man moaned as he grabbed at his hair. "See, this is why I don't like magic! Why does it have to be you?"

"I know not, mortal man. I do not think we will ever know why the nine have decided to birth us the way they have. It is good that I teach you though, Midgardian Sorcerer. Since our magic is the same, it will be easy to teach you and to let you in on the ways I use magic."

Loki pulled his hand away from Tony's chest, green eyes still locked on brown. Tony frowned slightly as he looked into those void green eyes, realizing how much he missed the little twinkle in those orbs that was now gone as Loki no longer knew who he was or what they had.

What was it they had anyway if it was all based on magic and bonds and shit? Were his feelings even real then? Or was it all influenced by the bond? But which comes first? The bond or the feelings? Loki had told him about natural and artificial bonds. Crude trust bonds are artificial, real trust bonds are natural. They had a natural friendship bond at one point though, so the feelings of friendship were real at least.

What about the romance then? It was a crude lover's bond and Loki reinstated it artificially. It didn't develop naturally again like it had before. So everything that happened last night and earlier that day between him and Loki could have been influenced by artificial feelings. Or the bond stabilized and became a real lover's bond during their date.

How did one even know that a bond had changed? Tony didn't even know the bond had changed at all between him and Loki. He didn't know he had even broken their previous trust bond and naturally instated the crude lover's bond!

"So, how the hell do we get these magic minds separated and your magic out of my arc reactor? I really wouldn't like everything magical about me to be everything magical about you. Wait, would that mean I'd get a Jotun configuration?"

Loki opened his mouth to say something, and then shut it, confusion overriding his facial features. "You ask a good question. I know very little on configuration magic since it is a seithr magic topic and I have only recently gotten involved with seithr magic."

Tony groaned and flopped onto his bed, head in his pillow as the clashing melodies continued to echo in his throbbing head. It was horrible migraine inducing music that only had the occasionally good mash up, which Tony assumed were their magic minds slowly reaching equilibrium. Oh, how he wished for Loki's magic to be out of his system like never before.

The man turned to face Loki, climbing off the bed simultaneously. "How do you extract magic from a _vapn_ anyway?"

"Like so."

Loki pressed both his hands to Tony's chest and took a deep breath, closing his green eyes as his lips parted slightly for the release of breath. Tony could feel the clash of melodies ease slightly, calming down to a barely tolerable mess of chords, notes and off-beat rhythm.

Loki opened his eyes and looked down into Tony's eyes, slowly pulling a hand away from the mortal's chest. Tony himself somehow maintained eye contact as a pale hand cupped his cheek, brushing soft fingers against his face and it just reminded Tony of last night and _whoa_, influx of feelings that were definitely not his at the memory of the previous night.

Hey, at least now he knew what Loki was feeling before the kiss last night. And damn was it a jumble of emotions and conflicting desires Tony did not want to sort out at the moment.

Tony's eyes started to slide closed as Loki gently wet his lips and leaned down, eyes also sliding closed. He could feel the god's warm breath against his lips and man, was the anticipation killer. Contact was even worse, patience wise. As soon as Loki's lips pressed up against his, Tony had his arms around the god's neck and kissed back with verve, capturing the god's lips with his own. Loki's arms found their way around Tony's waist as the memory-wiped god pulled the man closer and the kiss got deeper.

It didn't feel exactly the same, as Tony should expect. There wasn't as much passion or emotional connect with the kiss unlike the one last night. It was still amazing and Loki was still the best kisser Tony had ever had lip contact with. There was just that little ounce of feeling from Loki the man was missing, even though he had only felt it once.

That gut wrenching horrid melody slowly turned into that beautiful combination of his magic hum and Loki's magic hum that he used to hear during teleportation with the god. This meant Loki's magic mind had to be returning to sorcerer god. Tony wondered how often Asgardians extracted magic from a vapn because if making out with it was the way to go, well, he questioned the mental capacities of the gods and goddesses and worried for the fate of Asgard.

Loki pulled away quickly, a hand at his chest as he gasped for breath. Tony put his hands to his head and fell to his knees as a death defying ring rung through his skull and made him want to scream, if only to drown out the piercing noise. "What the hell is going on?"

"Re-association, Anthony."

Oh goody! Loki was back to normal!

Tony looked up from his knees to spot the god dressed in his casual armor, eyes closed as he waved a hand. The mortal sorcerer felt a familiar pang in the back of his head and sat astonished as the pang eased through his head and depleted the monotone ring he was hearing. Loki's soothing magical hum radiated from the god himself and filled not only Tony's head, but the room as the god reacquainted himself with his magic and his magic mind.

Loki gently moved his hands in a circular pattern, the green tendrils of magic around him following his hand movements. In the midst of the green sphere that was created was a black empty void that was soon swirling with the nebula colors of Ginnungagap. Tony watched as Loki opened his eyes with a sigh and snapped his fingers, the orb and Ginnungagap-like void disappearing simultaneously.

"So, you can extract magic from vapn by making out with it?"

"No," Loki crinkled his brow with disgust. "You have to touch the weapon and let the magic naturally come back. After all, magic hates to be too far from its person on its own."

"So what the hell was the kiss about?"

"Kiss?" Loki cocked his head to the side before red stained his cheeks and he looked away from Tony, scowling heavily. "It appears my attraction for you is not just magic based as I originally thought."

"Knew it." Tony smirked as he crossed his arms and Loki sent him a dangerous glare that didn't really seem threatening or anything. "You're all back to normal, right? Like your memory wasn't snatched away from you and stuff. You remember last night and Lokasenna and everything about me, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes, I do recall everything that has occurred to me concerning you. I still question my magic's attraction to your reactor. It's unnatural." The god frowned before lightly shaking his head. "Nonetheless, today you need to go searching for the villains. After my tirade the other day, we should expect them soon enough. First though, you will learn a bit about shapeshifting magic so you do not go wandering through the worlds looking like Tony Stark. You are a very familiar figure and I am sure everyone throughout the nine, minus Midgard, knows you are the Midgardian Sorcerer now."

"Uh, okay." Tony watched the god cross his arms. "So, what's first? I'm not sure we can stay here too long, not with my buddies hanging around in the tower. They probably have to go tell Fury of my agreement anyway."

"Then we'll go down to your lab. I will have to try my best not to use as much magic until I can figure out how I opened my magic mind last night and reached Ginnungagap midst sleep. My magic does not usually reacquaint itself with Ginnungagap during sleep on Midgard. I must teleport or reacquaint myself with Ginnungagap in order for my magic to return to full health."

Tony nodded knowingly and held out a hand for Loki, who took it gingerly. At the touch, Tony could hear Loki's melody echo through his head and it calmed him slightly to hear the sound again. The teleportation was the same as usual, no difference really. Tony felt more in control this time now, focused on a single destination and not as focused on his surroundings.

Once the two arrived in the lab, Loki immediately grabbed a couple of Tony's textbooks and flipped through them, speaking to the mortal sorcerer at the same time. "Frigga told me she has informed you of the difference between a glamour, a shapeshift, and a configuration."

"Yeah, she has. Glamour gives the illusion of change of figure, a shapeshift does change figure but not mindset, and a configuration is like becoming a new person." Loki nodded mindlessly, still trained on the book. "If you think about a glamour in terms of science in a way, a glamour spell could just be an alteration of light bouncing off ones self into the retinas of a creatures eyes and during the process of the light being reflected and translated into the image of an object in the brain, the spell alters the image that is being reflected, therefore giving the seen object a different shape, even though in reality, nothing about the object has changed."

"Science magic at its best, Stark." Loki looked up from his reading to give the genius a soft smile. "Shapeshifting magic changes the shape of the being entirely. Glamour spells are only used in emergencies or situations where a sorcerer or sorceress is not nearby to see past the spell. I use shapeshifting magic often and carry different _manlikan_ in my magic mind to shift into. The act of shapeshifting into a _manlikan_ is called _litr_."

"You have to store the different shapes in your magic mind?"

"Yes, or in magic, but I prefer the magic mind since not many people have access to it and I use many different forms of magic." The god returned to his book a bit distracted. "First off, you need to decide what _manlikan_ you want to _litr_. For starters, I will teach you how to _litr _my Aesir form."

"What?"

"It will be easier that way since you know my elskath. _Litr_ other people is much harder than _litr_ animals or other beasts. It is the ability to _litr_ multiple human _manlikan_ that makes one a master of shapeshifting magic." Loki shut the book he was reading and looked up at Tony, who averted his gaze, realizing he was sort of checking the god out. The sorcerer god quickly grabbed another book. "Now, take a good look at me and try your best to memorize my looks and the general shape and form of myself. While doing so, use your magic to create this model and please, make it as accurate as you possibly can."

Tony raised an eyebrow with a devilish grin and slowly raked his burning gaze over the god, watching Loki stiffen slightly under his gaze. Loki's eyes stopped moving with his reading and looked over at Tony with irritation, his lips pulled into a quivering straight line.

"What? I need to be accurate."

"Yes, you do, but there is no need to stare at me like a zoo animal or something, Stark." The god returned to his reading with a scowl, but Tony could see the telltale signs of a smile on Loki's lips. "Tell me when you're done."

The man nodded even though Loki couldn't see him and decided to be serious this time while scoping out Loki. Loki was slightly in profile across from Tony, eyes trained on the book as he head tilted down slightly. Waves of black hair framed his pale face and made his emerald green eyes stand out even more. Continuing down his eye fuck of Loki, Tony traced the gentle curvature of the god, taking in the way his clothing hugged his body and brought attention to his rear, his hips, and his legs. (Like Tony minded.)

"Alright then," Tony hummed mostly to himself as he summoned his magic and started to create the shape of Loki, focused on getting as many details as possible. The little strand of hair loose against the god's face. The way he leaned back a bit on his right leg, his hips jutting out more in the process. The look of concentration and curiosity in those glowing bright eyes and the quirky hidden smile forming on those luscious lips.

"Ah, I see you've finished." Tony looked up from staring at his model of Loki to lock eyes with the real Loki, who was leaning against the table off his hip. "Now think of my elskath and if you can, imagine that model with the elskath."

Tony's brow furrowed with confusion, but he tried his best, thinking the model Loki like the real Loki. Loki walked closer to the man, eyes trained on the blue model Loki in Tony's hands. "Good; you learn quickly, Stark. Finally, store this familiar _manlikan_ in your magic mind. Open your magic mind and let this _manlikan_ settle in."

It honestly made little sense to Tony, but he reached out toward his magic mind and simply thought _Um, I'm gonna store this _manlikan_ Loki here. Hope you don't mind_ before closing his magic mind and turning to Loki. A rush of cool air blew through him and caused Tony to shiver quite a bit, a hand on his head. Loki grabbed Tony's hands and closed his eyes, humming slightly.

"All that is left is for you to willingly accept the _manlikan_ in your magic mind and let your body alter itself with magic to _litr_ that shape." The god opened his eyes and let go of Tony, motioning for the man to continue on.

Tony nodded carefully and relaxed mentally, letting his magic seep from his skin and warm him in a blue light. He could feel it brush against his skin, oozing the calming melody of his magic. He felt it squeeze against him, watched it swirl and coat his entire body before there was a flash of blue and Tony found himself in an awkward body. His legs were too long and his arms were too long and whoa, what was up with the pale skin?

"Did it work?" he asked, startled when the voice of Loki spoke instead of his own. "I'm guessing so."

"Perfectly indeed." Loki smiled before shoving Tony in front of a mirror.

Tony gawked and raised a hand to his face, gently poking the unfamiliar skin on his body. Loki stood beside him with a roll of his eyes, watching Tony inspect the new body he had gotten himself into. "Whoa, what exactly happened?"

"You accepted the _manlikan_ and your magic altered your body structure to fit the _manlikan_."

Tony poked at the armor he was donning, still in awe that he had shifted to look like Loki. "To put it in science terms, my magic just changed my complete genetic code. How did it get access to it anyway?"

"I touched you."

"Wait, so what was that whole "make a model of Loki" thing?"

The god smirked lightly as he pulled away from the mirror and returned to his books. "You were itching for an excuse to look, so I gave you one. The model might come in later though once you obtain new _manlikan_. When you first start though, it is completely unnecessary."

"If you wanted someone to check you out to make you feel better about yourself, that's all you had to say." Angry green eyes turned on Tony. "Or not. I enjoy checking you out anyway, so it's no big deal for me at least."

Loki's eyes went downcast. "Oh yes, I forgot about that part."

"What part?"

"Feelings as you mortals call them." Green eyes locked with brown. "In the other worlds, we call them _munuth_ and the term means 'emotions and feelings that can change bonds and are not affected by bonds'. Some feelings and emotions are fake and can be caused by a bond. Others are not and you carry romantic _munuth_ for me."

A little smile slipped onto Tony's face at that and it only grew as Loki's cheeks grew a little red and he quickly turned from Tony with a cough. "I had thought it was all fake until today. Or last night really."

"How about you then? Do you have _munuth_ for me?"

Loki opened his mouth to reply and then shut it, fiddling with the edge of the page he was reading. His eyes were glazed over slightly and his cheeks were getting redder by the second and even if the god were to deny it right then and there, Tony already knew the answer, so it was all okay.

"Of course I do not," Loki spat, turning to the man with narrowed eyes. "Me fall for a mortal? And one such as you at that?"

"I know, I know, I'm pretty hard not to fall for." Tony laughed as he dodged a bolt of green that was flung his way. "How do I switch back my normal form because while I like being in your body, I'd rather be in you a different way."

Oh god. That came out _completely_ wrong.

Loki's face paled horrifically before turning the darkest shade of red Tony thought physically possible. (For a second, he though Loki had shifted or something.) The god closed his book as he closed his eyes and then took a very deep breath. "Go upstairs this instant, Stark."

"Or else?"

Blazing and extremely pissed off green eyes turned on Tony and before Loki could reply, the man quickly went upstairs, stumbling a bit with his new legs. Oh shit! He didn't figure out how to return to his normal form!

"Tony, you've finally come out! I was wondering if—holy shit, it's Loki!"

Clint grabbed a bow out of nowhere (maybe he was the Midgardian Sorcerer because that man had to use magic to get that bow out of thin air, seriously) and docked an arrow, pointing the weapon at Tony's face.

"Clint, no, don't shoot." The mortal sorcerer panicked, watching the archer call for back up. Tony turned toward the window and thought about jumping out of it. Or he could teleport. But in Loki's body, did he also carry the god's elskath, or still his own? Right now would not be a good time to test that out.

"I'm here, Barton."

Tony turned at that voice and spotted Steve run toward him and Clint, dressed in his red, white and blue suit with his shield in hand. Those blue eyes turned on his and they carried a glint Tony didn't recognize ever seeing in those eyes. "Loki, what reason do you have for being here?"

"Uh,"

"Don't answer that, we know why you're here." Clint spat angrily, walking closer to Tony, who was basically panicking now. "You can say all you want, but you're nothing but a liar, so we have no reason to trust you."

A slight snarl crawled onto Steve's lips and it seemed aimed at Clint more than Tony. The blonde stood beside Clint though and narrowed his eyes dangerously at the shapeshifted man. Oh god, they were gonna find out he was the Midgardian Sorcerer and so not in the manner he wished for it to be.

"Look, there's been a mistake," Tony started, watching Steve roll his eyes, placing his shield down carefully.

"Move, Clint."

Before the archer could protest, Steve ran forward and rammed himself into Tony, both men flying out the window. Tony started screaming like a girl and Clint was screaming at Steve from the broken window. The man clung onto the super soldier for dear life and in less than a second, he was no longer free falling and found himself on his two feet back in his lab, Steve collapsing onto the ground shortly after their arrival.

"What the hell was that?" Tony screeched angrily, his heart jumping in his throat. "I thought you were gonna kill me, you bastard!"

Steve-looking Loki gave Tony a look before clambering to his feet. The god flexed his arms with a Loki grin. It looked a bit becoming on Steve's face. "My magic is stronger now since I have reacquainted myself with Ginnungagap."

"Since when did you carry the _manlikan_ for Steve in your magic mind?"

"Since me punched me in the face during my invasion." Blue eyes bore into confused brown. "I only need to feel him, touch him, Stark. I am powerful enough that I do not need skin to skin contact or elskath or anything else in order to _litr_ a human. The extent of my power, and in turn yours, is much greater than you could possibly imagine, Anthony."

"Really?" Tony gaped slightly, before crossing his arms. "Well, teach me how to turn back into my normal form before—"

Tony was cut off as Steve!Loki held up a hand and darted his eyes toward the lab stairs. The man panicked silently, watching Steve!Loki creep toward the back of the lab. They locked eyes and in a flash of green, Tony was staring at himself.

As in, he was staring right at Anthony Edward Stark. Loki had just _litr_ Tony. And Tony was still stuck as Loki and the stupid god still hadn't told him how to litr himself!

_"Stark,"_ Loki's voice rang through Tony's head. At least Loki sounded like Loki during mind speak. (If he had sounded like Tony, that would've taken talking to oneself to a whole different level.)

**"Change me back, Loki, before Clint, real Steve and the others come down here!"**

Tony!Loki nodded and raised a hand before the doors to the lab were smashed open and the Avengers (minus Thor and Tony for obvious reasons) plus Agent Coulson (who Loki raised an eyebrow at) and Fury bustled into the room, weapons at the ready.

"Loki," Fury spat, one eye trained on Loki!Tony. "What are you doing in Stark's lab with Stark?"

"He was trying to get access to my suits," Tony!Loki replied, shrugging slightly. "It's no big deal, really. I won't give it to him, not ever. I've got this under control, Nick. I mean, if I didn't, I would've called for you guys despite the blow to the ego."

Loki!Tony gaped at Tony!Loki, who was leaning against the desk in a manner Tony himself would. He looked as smug as shit, too. Did Tony really look like that at times? Nah, it had to be Loki milking it.

"There is no way possible you would have been able to contact your Avengers." Loki!Tony replied, strolling toward Tony!Loki, who sat up a bit, eyes narrowed. "Lower your weapons, Avengers, I am no threat. You know not why I ask for the Man of Iron's suits in the first place."

"It's for Ragnarok, huh?" Tony!Loki replied, snorting slightly. "Yeah, not gonna happen, Reindeer Games. I've read the legends. I know what you'll end up doing. You start it all and to hell with you if you're going to drag me into this."

Tony suddenly wondered whether Loki was acting or was somewhat speaking the truth. Like venting to himself and telling Tony how he felt about Tony being involved with Ragnarok.

"Drag you, a pathetic mortal, into the final war of the gods? Who do you think you are, mortal man?" Loki!Tony laughed slightly, watching those guns and weapons point toward him as he continued walking toward Tony!Loki. "Believe it or not, I am not in league with the villains. I know not where they reside."

"And why should I believe you?" Tony!Loki spat back, brown eyes ablaze. Was Loki questioning Tony's trust in him? Was he testing to see if Tony really believed wholeheartedly that Loki could help stop Ragnarok and didn't have to lead the final army?

"I have no reason to lie." Those brown eyes softened just a tiny bit before Tony!Loki snorted. "Lokasenna was stopped, the Midgardian Sorcerer is real and he will stop Ragnarok, Stark."

"Yeah, of course because there's a human out and about who has the power to beat you with magic."

"Do you not believe Asgard and the prophocies of the volva." Loki!Tony turned to face the Avengers, Fury and Coulson. "I speak no lie. Asgard speaks no lies. Ragnarok is coming and I am the harbringer of it. I am giving you the chance to stop me, so take it."

"How the hell is asking for my suit giving me the chance to stop you? Why do you want me? Why me?"

"You were able to stop the Chitauri and me once before. Perhaps you can do so again."

Tony!Loki bowed his head as he shook it, walking to the other side of the lab. "Just leave. Go back to where you came from and leave me alone."

Was Loki really saying that, or was it just part of the act again? Honestly, Tony didn't know what was the act and what wasn't. "Or else?"

"Or else this."

Tony!Loki spun on his heel and blasted a stream of blue toward Tony, knocking Loki!Tony against a cluttered desk. Everyone turned to Tony!Loki, who was rubbing his arm.

His bare arm.

"What the fuck?" Fury exclaimed as Loki!Tony groaned, and not just with pain.

"Invisible gauntlet, Fury. Jealous much?" the god tapped a random spot on his arm and the Iron Man gauntlet flickered onto his bare skin.

Loki!Tony climbed to his feet and prepared to return the attack, but all weapons were set on him, including Loki's palm. Uh, that was not supposed to happen. Tony!Loki cocked a smirk, settling his other hand on his hip as he spoke.

"Seems a bit like déjà vu, huh?"

_"I will cause a distraction and you escape, understand?"_

**"What the hell was that? Why did you attack me?"**

_"I regret doing so, but you set it up, Anthony. Also, it's quite invigorating to be a complete ass with no serious immediate consequences, if any at all."_

**"Haha, very funny."**

Tony!Loki winked before putting on a look of confusion. He shook the arm with the "invisible" gauntlet (Tony wondered if it was a glamour or not) and a ray of blue shot at Bruce's feet. The scientist backed away dangerously and Fury shouted.

"Sorry, it's still a little glitchy. Modifications and shit. Gotta love them, you kno-_whoa!"_ the right boot of the Iron Man suit flickered to sight and turned on, launching Tony!Loki into the air. "Fuck!"

"Jarvis, turn off the suit!" Steve exclaimed, eye wide with worry.

"I can not, Captain. The suit is offline as not to interrupt the invisibilities properties of the new suit."

Thank you Jarvis for keeping Loki and Tony in the dark from the others.

Things started getting hectic when Tony!Loki shot Natasha in the arm (that was probably payback), knocked Clint out, bashed Steve into a wall and made Bruce leave. Everything was a mess and Fury and Coulson were tending to the injured and trying to get Tony!Loki under control.

Tony took this time to crawl under a desk and teleport himself to the nearest room, a random guest room. He collapsed onto the bed and ran a hand through his hair. God, he would never do that again. Tony sat up and a wicked grin slid onto his face.

"Jarvis, how long do you think I have before the others find out I'm gone and they go searching for me?"

"I know not, sir. Loki had not calmed down and who they think of as Loki is not a current concern."

"Thanks."

Tony climbed off the bed and slipped off the leather jacket, tossing that to the side. He managed to get the whole top half of the armor off, which he considered a huge feat. The exhausted sorcerer walked to the full body mirror, eyeing the body in the reflection.

Small scars littered the pale skin and there was a thick one horizontally across the abdomen. Tony traced it softly before twisting his arms slightly, finding more scars of various depths, lengths and colors.

Is this why Loki always wore long sleeves? Loki did wear a short sleeved shirt during the sleepover, but it was so dark, he didn't notice a thing.

Tony ran a hand over each arm and shoulder, finding scars against the god's neck and wrists. What the hell happened to Loki? Could Tony ever ask without setting the god off? Loki never mentioned anything about his time with the Chitauri, other than the fact that his magic was overpowered.

The sorcerer shook his head and turned slightly, examining Loki's bare skin carefully. It was awkward to inspect so closely, but this wasn't his body so to speak and he couldn't _litr_ his own _manlikan_. He didn't want to mind speak with Loki because who knew all the magic the god was using to keep the _manlikan_ of Tony and the Iron Man suit, if that was a _manlikan_ or a glamour. Unlike Tony, Loki didn't have a container to keep his magic safe from the lack of Ginnungagap Midgard carried.

Tony's hands wandered to the waist of the black pants and he pulled away quickly, pale face tingeing red. No, no, _no_, he couldn't do that. That was crossing a line of sorts. Even though he may have possible itched to do so after the kisses and the knowledge that Loki didn't mind being romantically involved, it was the wrong time.

Anyone could walk in and even worse, Loki himself could walk in. That just made Tony even more flustered and the crotch of his pants just tightened up. (Oh, how he wished his magic had caused it.) Tony ran a frustrated hand through his hair, but that made things worse as a low groan slipped from his lips.

Odin help him, he was getting turned on by touching himself. And not even in a sexual manner! Technically, it wasn't his body, but still!

Tony took a deep breath to calm himself down, cursing the _manlikan_ he has _litr_. The jeans were getting uncomfortably tight now and whoops, his mind was coming up with excuse after excuse for him to just dip his hand down the pants and take hold of Loki's-

Tony squawked aloud, face as red as Loki had made it as he pulled his hand out of his pants, cursing like a sailor in the process. He began pacing the room as he pulled at his black hair, scolding himself for almost (so very close) taking advantage of being in his Loki _manlikan_.

"Loki will be soon enough, just wait." Tony whispered aloud, sighing once he had calmed down a bit. "Loki will come any second now."

And his mind just went down the gutter at the word "come". The man cried aloud and leapt onto the bed, curling up against himself. Maybe he should just sleep so he wouldn't have to think at all. Or as much at least.

Tony crawled under the covers and turned onto his right side, back facing away from the general direction of the door. He closed his eyes and let the silence ease him into a relaxed state. Sleep never came though.

(He did.)

"Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck fuck fuck," he groaned into the mattress, eyes squeezed shut as his horny brain didn't shut off and proceeded with its previous task. "No, no, no, why am I doing this—_oh god_,"

Tony cut himself off with a small gasp and bit his bottom lip harder, breathing getting a bit more labored. Oh god, he shouldn't have done it, _but he did _and by the nine, if Loki ever found out, Tony was going to be murdered, regardless of being the Midgardian Sorcerer.

"Jarvis, what did I just do?" he gasp, rolling onto his back with a groan. Tony was flushed all over and could barely wrap his head over what he just did because _damn_.

"You have just finished masturbating yourself, or Loki if you wish to get technical with the definitions, sir."

"No, what the fuck, Jarvis, don't actually tell me! It was a rhetorical question, damn it!"

"Rhetorical or not, it happened."

Tony practically leapt off the bed with horror, crashing to the floor along with the covers and sheets to the bed. He sputtered as he got to his feet, looking into the poison green eyes of Loki, who was still sitting on the bed, arms crossed and legs straightened out.

"Oh my god, look, it wasn't supposed to happen, but you know me and I just," Tony scrambled for words before running a hand through his hair with a groan. "I'm sorry, okay? You're probably going to kill me, huh?"

"I probably should." The god climbed off the bed and waved a hand, green magic swirling around Tony. The man noticed out of the corner of his eyes that his reflection was of Tony, not Loki. Ah, finally back to normal. "But I won't."

"Good, I promise I won't ever do that again." Loki raised an eyebrow as he strode toward Tony, who was straightening his shirt.

"I'd rather you not keep that promise, Stark."

Tony looked up from his shirt and his eyes widened slightly at the flirtatious smirk Loki was donning. "Wait, how long were you in the room?"

"Not long to be honest." The god shrugged. "The Avengers and the others have been dealt with and they want Tony up in Asgard to keep an eye on Loki. Make sure nothing serious is going on up there."

"That's good, really good." Tony's voice hitched up a bit, as Loki's face inched closer to his. "Anything else you want to tell me?"

"What do you want to hear?"

Loki was so going to be the death of Tony, there was no doubt about it.

Tony grabbed the god's face with his hands and kissed him hard with an open mouth and all, devouring Loki's mouth with passion and lust and conviction and damn, he already knew it, but Loki's kisses were addictive.

"Loki," he moaned into the god's mouth as they pressed up against a wall, limbs tangled, mouths twined and all caution thrown to the wind. He felt those long cold hands slither up his shirt and _poof_, there went his brain. Nothing but a pile of melted genius in Loki's arms.

"We need to go to Asgard," Loki gasped slightly when Tony nipped at his bottom lip. The man raised an unamused eyebrow, pulling away from the kiss. "Finding these villains is your main priority."

"Right now, my main priority is you." Tony gently pushed Loki toward the bed, the god falling atop it and Tony coming down right after. The man brushed a strand of black hair from the god's sweaty face and then kissed his nose. "I trust you, Loki and I believe we can do this, okay? That's never gonna change, not as long as I lo—"

"Not as long as you what?"

Tony captured Loki's lips with his own and then smiled as he pulled away, Loki's green eyes darkened slightly with lust. "Not as long as I carry_ munuth _for you and you carry them for me."

"I never said I did!"

"You don't have to say it to prove it, Loki. Actions do speak louder than words."

Before Loki could retort, Tony kissed him again, driving his tongue into the god's warm mouth. Loki kissed back shortly after, letting go of the argument. After all, there was nothing to argue about. They both knew they liked the other immensely and there was no point denying it. Not when they both obviously wanted more.

"I think I might like to change that bond we share," Tony muttered against Loki's neck, feeling the god's hum of approval.

"I wouldn't mind."

Tony grinned and sat up, straddling Loki as he took off his shirt. Loki's hands trailed up his chest, dainty white fingers gently brushing the arc reactor. Tony's breath hitched a bit at that and Loki pulled his fingers away, an apologetic look on his face. The man shook his head and leaned down to kiss the raven haired god, slow, sensual and loving.

"It's not you, it's a reflex. I'm always jittery about my arc reactor." He whispered against Loki's lips, opening his eyes to look down into gentle green ones as those hands continued to roam. Each touch sent tingles down his body and oh, it was so glorious and perfect and all sorts of things he didn't want to think about.

Loki leaned up a bit, giving Tony a chaste kiss, but the man leaned down for more, getting a chuckle from the sorcerer god. "Eager, aren't you?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" he replied with a smirk, pulling Loki up so they were sitting up on the bed in each other's arms. Tony wrapped his arms around Loki's neck, feeling Loki's arms around his waist and kissed the god again and again, letting his actions say what his mouth dare not.

Loki pulled away with blazing green eyes and a silly smile on his lips. "This is oddly romantic."

"It could be worse." The brunette shrugged slightly and smiled when Loki shook his head with amusement. "We could be locked up at SHIELD HQ a couple floors down."

Loki snorted as he rolled his eyes. "And wouldn't Fury enjoy that. At least then, he would know of your powers and my true intentions."

"You're not teaching me to kill you."

"I know. I'm teaching you to stop me. Keep me from leading the army." Loki's grip on Tony tightened a bit. "Save me from myself."

"Always."

Loki crashed his mouth to Tony's with a choked back sob or something, pushing Tony onto his back in the process. Tony didn't mind though as the kisses slowed and lengthened, Tony's own hands roaming up Loki's shirt. He questioned asking about the scars, but decided against it. It was the wrong time for that.

"Stop," Loki suddenly said, pulling away from a confused Tony. "We shouldn't-we can not do this, Stark."

"What? I'm confused as to what you're talking about."

"This." The god motioned between himself and Tony before rolling off the man. "It has to stop."

"Why?" Tony crinkled his brow with confusion and turned to face Loki, who was climbing off the bed.

"You'll be compromised, Tony, I can't let that happen." Green eyes turned to brown before looking away angrily. "We can not let that happen. Not with Ragnarok around the corner. Any further involvement between ourselves can make it hard to let one another go."

"I'm _not_ going to kill you."

_"Who said it was me who was going to die?"_ Loki shouted, hands clenched as fists by his side. "This is a war we are preparing for, Tony. Have you heard the legends of the Midgardian Sorcerer?"

"No."

"He dies in the end! He _always_ dies at the end!" Tony paled a bit. "And I know not if this is different."

"Even if it isn't, I won't die. I won't do that to you."

Loki looked over at Tony with green eyes full of emotion before bowing his head. "We just need to focus on Ragnarok. I'm sorry."

The mortal sorcerer climbed off the bed as well. "There's nothing to be sorry about; I totally get your logic. It makes sense, you know? We should just stick to being friends and all."

Even though it hurt to think so, Tony knew it was probably for the best not to mix work and personal relationships. Sort of like what Jarvis said the other day. He needed to find these villains, he was on a time limit and he didn't know what the limit was. While he itched to finally be with Loki the way he wanted, he understood why he couldn't.

Not now at least.

"Let me teach you how to _litr_ your original form." Loki smiled softly, but it seemed a little forced.

Tony nodded with a strong exhale. "Yeah, let's do that."

And if Tony saw the hurt and pain in those green orbs and saw how hard the god struggled to keep to himself and treat Tony like a proper student, he didn't say a thing. He didn't say a single thing and smiled softly to himself that night when they went to bed and Loki immediately went to sleep after a quick 'good night'.

"I love you, too, Loki." he muttered softly, before closing his eyes. "I love you, too."

"Sigyn,"

That made Tony turn immediately, eyes narrowed at the back of Loki's head. Who the hell was Sigyn? And why was Loki muttering her name in the middle of the night?

* * *

So, chapter 10 done! This might be the last chapter until the new year, I don't know! If it is, then happy holidays and have a great new year! Thank you for the reviews, keep them coming! And thanks for reading the story. I am always pleased to know someone out there likes this! Until next time!~

Edit 12/20: I bumped up the rating for this story to M in preparation for Chapter 11. Also as a precautionary measure for Chapter 11 ;P


	11. Seer

**Tanglepathsjourney: **I don't know how I thought of this world, it just happened xD I'm glad you like the story so far! It wasn't my idea for Tony to have magic, so I can't take credit for that (even though it's been a headcanon of mine for a while and I have a different story not published online where Tony uses magic). I took a prompt, which is the story description. Everything else is my idea though xD Oh gosh, I'm glad you like how I write Loki. I sometimes feel like he's a bit OOC, so I'm glad for your feedback on that :) Oh, Tony's silver magic has importance. That will be expanded on :3 Haha, yeah, Loki's a little stubborn on the whole work/personal relationships thingy with Tony. Hopefully, that will be cleared up soon ;D

**Fiona12690: **I'm glad I'm keeping you on your toes! It's sometimes good to not be too suspecting with a story, you know? Shapeshift sounds awesome and I can't wait to write more Tony performing it! Haha, yeah, fighting with yourself means something different now, huh? xD No prob on the awesome update and more is coming soon! It's this update right now!~

**undeadTyrant:** YES. SMUT. This chapter has a bit of it too, but it's not real heavy or anything. (I do have a version that goes more into the sex scene, I'll probably post that as a different story though if I feel like it) Haha, yeah, I can see that. Here's the update though!~

* * *

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 11:** _Seer_

Rating: M

Length: 11, 653

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: " If I didn't care for you, I would have killed you as soon as I found out how. If I didn't like you, I wouldn't let you stay in my tower until you feel able to visit Asgard again! If I didn't love you, I wouldn't be so fucking _pissed_ right now!"

* * *

The first day Tony went scouting for villains, he got no news. He had used his magic to try to find traces of magic, but Midgard was a barren wasteland when it came to magic. Loki wouldn't allow him to travel to any other world until his shapeshifting magic skills were better, so he was tied to scouting Midgard.

It wasn't ever that bad though and he enjoyed getting out of the tower and having no one recognize him. He would mind talk with Loki, who would inform Tony of a few villains from his worlds he knew of that might have been a part of this congregation. There was Surtr, a fire giant from Muspellheim; Amora the Enchantress; Malekith the Accursed, a dark elf of Svartalfheimr; Kurse, a dark elf in league with Malekith; Ymir, a frost giant who hated Thor for killing Thyrm; Doctor Doom; Lorelei, Amora's sister who had a thing for Loki; Hel, Loki's daughter who was the goddess of Death down in Helheimr; and actually all of Loki's kids but Sleipnir.

"All of your kids might be a part of the villain congregation?" Tony had asked after his second week of scouting. (Tony still got nothing but a couple rumors of weird shit going down in Scandinavia. He told Loki, who said it was nothing and was probably just Heimdall checking up on them.)

"Perhaps," Loki had replied softly. "They each have their roles in Ragnarok that is assigned to them as fighting against Asgard like yours truly."

"What roles?"

"Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent, is supposed to fight Thor and they both die. Hela creates the army of the dead for me to lead. Fenrir fights Odin and kills the Allfather, only to kill and be killed by one of Odin's rogue sons I've never met."

"Odin's rogue sons?"

"Yes. Baldr, Thor and I were not the only ones. In fact, Thor isn't technically Frigga's son. The only one who is Frigga's son is Baldr." Tony's jaw dropped open at that. "But the family bond between Frigga and Thor is so strong, he is magically her birth son."

"That's sort of awesome."

Loki laughed before returning to his reading and Tony returned to fixing up his suit.

After the almost-sex a couple weeks back, the two were a little awkward near each other, but that awkwardness disappeared pretty quickly. It was as if Lokasenna did not occur and they hadn't kissed and they were just friends hanging out and preparing to stop the end of the world. Loki was at the tower everyday avoiding going up to Asgard, although he claimed to be down on Midgard for Tony's sake.

Every day, Loki would wake up with a loss of memory of all things Tony and every night, Loki would murmur the name Sigyn in his sleep. Loki didn't understand what was happening at all with him visiting Ginnungagap in his sleep. He didn't do so during the invasion of Midgard and during his previous visits to the world.

Currently, Loki was reading through some ancient texts, trying to see if there were any records of visiting Ginnungagap midst sleep or any records of magic being attracted to someone else's vapn. Tony was working on his suit repulsors, trying to fix them up to accommodate his magic.

The silence echoing in the room was unnerving and while Loki seemed to like working in silence, that wasn't cutting it for Tony. He called for Jarvis to start playing any random song he had and started humming along once he recognized the tune. Loki looked up from his book with a look of disgust, raising an eyebrow at Tony, who continued humming to himself, singing the lyrics under his breath.

"_With the lights out it's less dangerous_," Tony grabbed a wrench and started screwing a bolt on his Iron Man boot, "_Here we are now, entertain us._"

"What is this that is playing?" the god asked with horror, causing Tony to turn toward him with raised eyebrows.

"Nirvana. Smells Like Teen Spirit. Dude, don't tell me you don't like this." Tony sighed as Loki scowled, his face reading that he didn't like what was playing. "C'mon, really? Fine, what do you want to hear?"

Loki frowned with concentration and then perked, a smile on his lips. "Jarvis, if you would please, play me Gershwin's Three Preludes."

Tony's brow crinkled at that. Wasn't Gershwin some classical dude or something? When the song started playing, the man wanted to bag his head against a wall because no way in the nine would he sit here and listen to some classical piano playing. Yes, the song was pretty fast (damn, listen to those notes fly) and a bit jazzy, but not Tony's cup of tea. Not by a long shot.

Loki nodded with approval and returned to his reading though, humming along gently in a manner that almost made Tony not use his phone to change the tune. When the song switched, Loki quickly looked up with a glare and Tony shrugged, letting _Heart Shaped Box _echo through the lab.

"Hey, what can I say? Jarvis didn't want that stuff playing."

Loki gave him a look and rolled his eyes as he turned back to his book. Tony let his gaze linger on Loki just a second longer before grabbing a gauntlet and fixing that up. It was sometimes weird working in the lab and seeing Loki there across the room. Tony wasn't really used to hanging out with people down here, not even Bruce (they went down to SHIELD HQ for work). Loki had mentioned going back to Asgard a few days back when he realized how weird the situation was for Tony, but Tony told him to stay.

He himself had run into Thor on two occasions since the shapeshifting incident down the lab. The first time occurred while he was scouting Midgard. Tony had arrived in California and was walking down Market Street in San Francisco when he literally bumped into Thor.

They didn't recognize him at first. Well, on Thor's part. The thunder god had smiled with an apology, but as Tony scampered away, still shapeshifted into an unrecognizable form, Thor stopped him. "Stark?" he had whispered quietly as he lifted up his sunglasses, shock written in his blue eyes.

Tony nodded and the thunder god took Tony's arm and walked up the street with him.

"How'd you know it was me?" Tony asked a block away from where they had dropped off Jane. "You're not a sorcerer."

"Yes, I am not a sorcerer, but I do carry magic and I know your trace, Anthony." Thor had replied, his voice hushed as they walked side-by-side. "I am sure Loki has told you how one can encode another's trace."

"Yeah, he has." Thor sent Tony a smile. "What are you doing here in San Fran? I thought you were up in Asgard."

"I was, but I came down here looking for Loki after a report that he was found in New York." Tony averted eye contact with the blonde. "I have yet to find him though. Do you know where he resides?"

"Yeah, I do, but he's not going back up to Asgard right now. Loki's still a bit resistant on that part. " Thor's blue eyes darkened with sorrow. "Hey, there's no need to be upset about it. He'll come around soon enough and if he won't do so on his own, I'll force him to. After all, you two are brothers. Or brother and sister. Hey, how did that conversation with Princess Loki go after Lokasenna?"

The prince's eyes darted to the side before focusing on Tony again. "That is something we should cease to speak in public about, Anthony. My brother has not told you of it?"

"Nah, he's a little sensitive about the Jotun form thing still. I thought I had helped a bit expressing my feelings about him being in that form, but he hasn't bothered to change back into it. We were reading a couple legends together, he's been informing me which ones are true and which ones aren't, and when it came to the parts about the frost giants, he sort of shut down in a way."

"That is no surprise. The secret that was burdened upon my brother is a dark one. I can barely carry it myself. I can only imagine how he feels, especially knowing the possible truth behind Fulla's hatred of him. " Thor perked slightly and pulled Tony down an ally way before he could see who Thor had perked at the sight of. From the looks of it, it looked like Steve, but why would the blonde captain be in San Francisco? "I would wish to speak with you about my conversation with my sister another time, Anthony. Perhaps after he has told you himself."

"How the hell do I bring it up? I mean, he's not going to Asgard because he's avoiding you."

"Let him open up, my friend."

With that, Thor patted Tony's shoulder, slid his sunglasses back on and left the mortal sorcerer in the alleyway.

Loki never talked about Thor or Asgard or anything along those lines since then. Tony didn't bring it up because he didn't want to anger the god again. The second time he saw Thor was just two days ago. Tony had woken up in the middle of the night and he practically screamed as he spotted Thor across from the foot of the bed, staring down at Tony and Loki, the latter still asleep.

"Holy shit, Thor, don't do that to me. Heart capitulations can not be good for my arc reactor." Tony climbed out of the bed and watched Thor's eyes dart toward him. "How did you get in here anyway? And why were you watching us sleep like a creepy stalker? Are you Santa Claus or something?"

"Who is this Santa Claus you speak of?" Thor asked before shaking his head. "I felt my brother's magic and pinpointed his location."

"You can do that even though you are not a sorcerer?"

Thor shook his head with a slight chuckle. "Not exactly. I extracted some magic from my hammer and used it to cast a simple spell Loki had taught me years ago. I do not consider it sorcery or being a sorcerer. Magic is not my specialty; that is the only spell I know. Also, I could feel his magic nearby, so that helped me further identify his location since I was already in the area. Trust me, Stark, I am no magic user."

"Still, that's pretty awesome." Tony's gaze turned to Loki, as did Thor's. "So, are you gonna wait for him to wake up? He's a pretty heavy sleeper I've learned."

"Yes, my brother has learned to sleep heavily in order to get rest during our adventures. He was a valuable warrior for us and his presence was much needed. He knew that and gladly was our protection."

"Our?"

"Sif and the Warriors Three." That didn't ring a bell in Tony's head. Loki never spoke about his adventures that weren't in the Eddas. "Sif, who is a longtime friend of mine, is a swordswoman who carries a glorious steel sword embedded with her magic. Hogan uses a steel sword as well, although he prefers the iron long sword that has his magic within it. Fandral the Dashing as he prefers to be called, is an archer whose Elven-made bow is enchanted with his own magic. Loki and he were close friends."

"Friends." Tony murmured under his breath, a scowl crawling onto his face at the uttered word. "That is someone I will have to ask more about later."

Thor fell out laughing and Tony quickly looked over at Loki, who simply rolled over, completely oblivious to Thor's boisterous laughter. "Oh, Friend Anthony, Fandral and Loki were purely friends, I can assure you of that. Even if they were to have feelings for each other, which I can say has not and will not occur, they would not be courting."

"Gay marriage illegal in Asgard?"

"Happy marriages are bountiful in Asgard, Stark, I do not understand your question."

"Man on man marriages, Thor. Are they against the law?"

"No, not at all. They used to be though and in Asgard, it is occasionally heavily looked down on, but only for those of middle classes. No one would care if a prince or a poor man were to marry one of the same sex. The same applies to women." Tony nodded slowly, filing that in the back of his head for later.

"So, why wouldn't Fandral and Loki be together?"

Thor's face hardened and darkened to a scary glare as he stared Tony down with dangerous blue eyes. Tony regretted asking the question and he backed away a bit as a strike of lightning flashed down outside the window despite there being no rain. "I would not allow such scandalous hands to dare touch my innocent brother."

"Innocent? I think you have the wrong guy in mind. I mean, look, Loki has four kids from two different people, if you count a horse to be a person, and you have none." Tony shrugged. "Seems like Loki's more sexually active than you. Or more sexually irresponsible. Depends on the way you look at it."

"And then, there is Volstagg," Thor continued as if that interlude had not occurred. Tony sighed. "He is a dwarf if you wish to be specific about race. He was born in Svartalfheim like most dwarves, but moved to Asgard once he came of age. Volstagg carries no magic as dwarves are born with no magic."

"Loki told me all beings but those on Midgard are born with magic."

Thor nodded. "He is correct. I should properly say that most dwarves are born with little magic. Not enough to be a sorcerer or embed their weapon with it. It is there though. Thank you for pointing that out."

"No problem, He-Man." Thor gave Loki one last look before walking to the door. "He hasn't told me about the conversation yet."

"In due time, Anthony. Perhaps only she recalls it." Thor replied with a smile before exiting the room.

Tony walked to the door and followed the thunder god with his eyes, watching him walk down the hall to the main room and then further forward down the other hallway. There was a voice, a soft sleepy sounding voice, and Tony turned, scared that Loki had woken up. The sorcerer god was still asleep, so Tony crept out of the bedroom. He was going to get some water anyway.

"You're back," the familiar voice of Steve echoed down the hall. Ah, that was the sleepy voice Tony had heard. "And why so early in the morning, Thor? It's like 2 am or something. Go to bed; I'm sure you're tired."

"I wish I was," Thor replied, his voice heavy with emotion. "But, let me not keep you from your rest, Steven. I had not meant to wake you as I took my departure."

"Leaving? I thought you were gonna come go scouting with us. You know, prepare for Ragnarok and all." Steve sounded quite disappointed. "I mean, I understand if you've got responsibilities up in Asgard; Loki's there too and I know how much of a hassle he is, I mean, he had a duplicate that was me and I don't understand him half the time because I still don't get why he did what he did and you're probably having the time of your life dealing with Loki right now, but, oh, looking at me, rambling like I'm Stark." Tony's eyes narrowed as he reached up for a cup from the bar in the main room between his room and Steve's room down the two hallways. "Never mind that. I guess what I'm trying to say is we've sort of been missing you down here."

_We?_ Tony raised an eyebrow at that, peeking around the corner, cup in hand to spot Thor in the doorway to Steve's room. He couldn't see the blonde soldier though and assumed Steve was standing up by his bed or something, so he went back to the bar, suddenly deciding that maybe a cup of scotch would taste better than a bland old cup of water.

"I will return soon enough. You are correct though and I apologize for not visiting much recently."

"No, there's no need to apologize, Thor. Not at all! I just—"

Tony quietly grabbed a decanter and poured as quietly as possible, even using a silencing spell on the liquid as a precautionary measure. He forgot though that Thor knew his trace and this time, he actually let out a short yelp when he turned from putting up the decanter and found himself face to face with Thor.

"What did I say about scaring me, Thor?" the man gasped, a hand at his chest with another on the counter. Steve popped out from behind Thor and scowled heavily. "Look, it's not what you think, Steve. This isn't alcohol. It's water. Very dirty water."

"Whatever, I don't even really care anymore. After the whole situation with Loki a week and a half ago, I don't blame you." Tony was surprised to hear that response. "Are you almost done with your suit?"

"Yeah, just about." Steve's face fell a bit.

Tony knew the soldier didn't like how the group was slowly breaking apart. Thor and Tony would be up in Asgard soon enough, Bruce was off being a doctor in other countries away from SHIELD HQ, and Natasha and Clint were off spying as SHIELD agents somewhere in the world for Fury, who was still paranoid about the Ragnarok thing. Steve, ironically the first Avenger (as now, he seemed to be the last), was the only one of them who didn't look like he would be going anywhere anytime soon.

"Don't worry," Tony continued as he drank from his glass, "I'll come visit, okay? I think I'd miss all your patriotic heroics after all."

Steve snorted as he rolled his eyes, brushing blonde locks from his face. The blonde captain looked over at Thor with an indescribable expression before shaking his head and leaving Tony and Thor in the main room, Tony confused and Thor confused, although for very different reasons.

"You are leaving, Man of Iron?"

"What look did Steve give you?"

Thor's brow only crinkled more at that before his blue eyes softened and he turned in the direction Steve had gone. "We should rest, Anthony. I fear once Ragnarok approaches, you will have little time on your hands."

Tony frowned as he gripped his cup tightly. "Loki's been saying that, too."

Thor nodded and then left through the elevator, saving Tony from having to explain to Loki the cause of the godly hole burned in the tower by Thor's departure. Tony knew he couldn't tell Loki about running into Thor, not when the blonde thunder god was still a sore topic for Loki, and even now, as he worked on his suit with Nirvana playing and Loki reading Norse books, he knew Loki was going to find out soon enough and he only hoped the sorcerer god didn't flip out in the process.

"Ah," Loki gasped suddenly, gathering Tony's attention. "I think I know who would have such records as the ones we need."

"Who?" the brunette asked, placing down the gauntlet to his Iron Man suit.

"The elves of Alfheim. They carry thousands of books and records in their main library and about their world." The god stood up and closed the book he was reading. "When did you tell Fury you would move to Asgard?"

"By the end of the month. That was the agreement. One month to fix my suit and get my ass off Earth."

Loki nodded, looking down at the book before locking eyes with Tony. "Would you like to visit Alfheim with me?"

That's how Tony found himself in a land of elves, surrounded by magic and trees and nature and wow, he really liked this world. He could feel the power of Ginnungagap all around him here, pressing against his skin like a soft pillow or blanket. Loki smiled down at him and held out a hand as they stood before the entrance to a forest, which was oozing magic for sure.

Tony took the god's hand and let Loki lead him through the beautiful forest, grass and dirt beneath his feet. They walked side-by-side and hand-in-hand down a small trail, birds chirping and flying by the two. Tony watched a few blue birds hop alongside him, beady eyes trained on Tony with curiosity. One hopped up to him and cocked its head before chirping and staying by his side the rest of the walk. Loki pointed out a deer and they watched the creature graze in the grass, long beautiful antlers glowing in the sun as the deer ate.

"He's got antlers like you, reindeer," Tony teased, getting a playful glare from Loki in response. "This is a really beautiful place, by the way. I would've never expected the land of elves to be so full of nature magic."

"The elves are a race that pride themselves on magic and everything they do is full of magic. Hence why this world is full of it. So much so that you can feel it." Loki waved a hand through the air with a soft smile. "You will get used to the pressure easily as you visit more often. It has always been a comfort to visit this world and bask in the magic around me."

"It is pretty comforting," Tony nodded with approval, watching the bluebird that was following him fly onto a branch. "Looks like I've got myself an animal companion like how you have Kyna, Loki."

The god chuckled with a shake of his head and froze, eyes trained on the deer a few hundred feet away. Tony slowly turned his gaze to the buck and watched as the beast stared Loki down, all time seemingly frozen. Loki released Tony's hand from his grasp and slowly crept toward the buck, who kept beady brown eyes trained on the approaching god.

Tony's heart was beating frantically as the buck backed away slowly, bending down as if ready to charge. Loki stood there in the meadow majestically, a halo of yellow light surrounding him as he stood in the grass, still facing the buck. The sorcerer god reached a hand out and then the buck went down on its knees, head bowed to the ground by Loki's feet.

Loki turned to Tony and waved for the man to come, so Tony did so, careful not to disturb the kneeling buck. Brown eyes looked up at Tony and the man's breath caught in his throat as he literally saw the magic pooling in those beady animal eyes. Loki took his hand and Tony turned toward the god with confusion until Loki placed his hand atop the buck's head.

Soft yet comfortably rough fur met Tony's fingers and he lightly grazed his hand through it, still feeling magic in the animal's fur. Loki looked down at Tony and the buck with a sweet gaze before turning toward the lush and fertile trees where birds were flying in the trees and butterflies and other flying critters joined the mix.

A couple rabbits hopped up toward the buck and Loki bent down toward one, holding out a hand. The cute little bunny noses twitched as the rabbits sniffed Loki's hand and one even allowed Loki to pick it up.

"Animal whisperer, huh?" Tony smirked as Loki shook his head with a smile, cradling the fluffy brown rabbit he had in hand.

"More like a magic whisperer. Also, they know you are the Midgardian Sorcerer. They have come to see a rare spectacle such as yourself." The god patted the rabbit's head before letting it jump out of his arms onto the soft dirt and grass below their feet. "This buck is Alfvarthr like I had originally thought. He is what I consider the protector of this forest. He will alert the King of Alfheim to anything suspicious."

"How?"

"He carries an animal bond with the King," Loki explained quietly, bending down on his knees, gently grasping the buck's face. "The King of Alfheim is someone you know already, so introductions will not be necessary when we visit."

"Someone I already know? Odin rules this land, too?"

"No, of course not. King Freyr of Vanaheim is also King Freyr of Alfheim." Tony raised an eyebrow, a hand still on Alfvarthr. "When the previous king of Alfheim and his kin were killed, Odin gave the throne to Freyr to keep this world safe and prosperous. Elven magic is very much like seithr magic as well."

"Do you know elven magic?"

Loki's eyes glazed over slightly before he stood up and gently patted Alfvarthr's head. He turned to Tony with a shake of the head. "No. We should probably head to the palace before it gets dark and the libraries close. I wish not to be here too long. I have not masked my trace and it will not be long before Thor comes blundering here and tries to take me back home."

Tony raised both his eyebrows at that. That was the first time he heard Loki call Asgard home. Actually, that was really the first time he heard Loki call anyplace home. He didn't say anything though and let his hand slip into Loki's as they continued their walk, the little bluebird, who Tony decided to call Alfvin, flying beside Tony the whole time.

When they arrived at the palace, Loki was an excited mess, practically yanking Tony up the steps to the palace gates where two guard elves stood with spears in hand. One looked down at the two with sharp gray eyes, thin lips pulled in a line.

"Guards," Loki started in Elvish, both of the elves turning to the god. "I am Loki Laufeyson of Jotunheim and this is Anthony Edward Stark of Midgard. He is the Midgardian Sorcerer and I am his teacher."

"Loki of Jotunheim?" one elf asked in Elvish as well, eyes narrowed dangerously at Loki. Tony was a bit surprised he could understand them.

"Yes, I am also Loki Odinson of Asgard if that helps any." The two gods perked before bowing down on their knees.

"Prince Loki of Asgard, our deepest apologizes for questioning your presence." They stated simultaneously. Loki shook his head before placing his hands on the golden helmets atop their heads.

"Rise, guards, there is no need for apologies. You have the right to question my presence, what with the rumors of Ragnarok approaching." The two guards rose to their feet at Loki's words. "I come here to visit the libraries of Alfheim. I have brought Anthony with me so he may visit and become better acquainted with the other worlds."

The gray-eyed guard nodded and pressed a dainty hand to the golden gate, sparks of orange flying from the contact. The golden gate opened slowly and Loki nodded in thanks to the guards before taking Tony's hand and dragging him into palace grounds.

"I have not been here in years," Loki grinned, looking like a child in a candy store as he turned to the in awe Tony. "I remember Thor and I would come here and visit the local children. I was taught magic from my mother, but I would occasionally get lessons from—"

Loki harshly cut himself off and turned from the mortal sorcerer, dragging him down the cobblestoned path with obvious anger. There was something up about Elven magic and Loki. Tony really wanted to know what the issue was. "Do you think it would be good for me to learn Elven magic?"

"I do not believe it would be necessary, Stark," Loki spat harshly as they turned a corner, bumping straight into a woman. "My apologies, I did not mean to—_Asta?"_

"Prince Loki?"

Tony looked between the bewildered god beside him and the beautiful black haired elf woman standing across from Loki. She was wearing a gorgeous yellow gown that made it look like she was floating and it accented the deep rich brownish orange of her sharp eyes. Her lips were slightly parted with a gasp and a hand was at her mouth with shock. Her black hair was tied in an intricate braid and flowers were tied into the braid, emitting a soft gentle flowery scent.

"Astrithr," Loki smiled softly, releasing Tony's hand from his grip. "It has been a while."

"You said you would visit." The woman replied, her voice quivering a bit. "You said you would come visit, Loki, and that was years ago. Hundreds of years ago."

"I am truly sorry, but the duties of a prince called my name back in Asgard. I could not visit as much as I wished, Astrithr."

"Do not call me that; you make yourself sound distant." Loki chuckled lightly as the elf lady smiled. "Asta is what you have always called me, so Asta it is."

Tony stood there awkwardly until Asta turned her eyes on him with a cock of the head.

"This is Anthony Stark of Midgard," Loki pointed out, nodding his head toward the man, who waved with a smile. "I have decided to let him visit Alfheim for once. We ran into Alfvarthr in the forest outside palace gates."

"You in association with a mortal man?" Asta wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and both Tony and Loki pulled away from each other, blush staining their cheeks.

"No, not at all, Asta. Why would you say such a thing? I am his teacher."

"Yes, continue to tell yourself that, Loki. Why is it you are teaching a mortal?"

"He is the Midgardian Sorcerer and Frigga has requested for me to teach him before Ragnarok." Asta's eyes widened as her eyes darted between Loki and Tony before settling on Loki.

"The legends are true." She gasped before taking Loki's hand. Tony stiffened slightly, a sense of possessiveness coming over him at the sight. "Come with so we may speak in private."

Loki nodded and proceeded to follow Asta, Tony on his heels. The two were whispering to each other and Tony couldn't understand it, which irritated him because now he felt like a third wheel and damn, did he not like being a third wheel. By the time the trio arrived at Asta's chambers, Tony wanted to take Loki to a wall and show Asta that Loki was his, not hers.

Loki told Asta everything about what had happened to him recently, minus the whole romantic get up with Tony of course. The elf was astonished with everything and asked Loki why he was even in Alfheim if he had to prepare for Ragnarok.

"I am having issues with my magic and Ginnungagap. I am visiting it in my sleep, but I have never done so before, not even when we visited Midgard all those years ago without permission and Heimdall locked us there to teach us a lesson."

"Oh, I remember that!" Asta laughed cheerily, her voice ringing through the room. "So, you believe the Alfheim libraries have something to explain that?"

"Yes, also, do you see that light in Anthony's chest?" Loki pressed his palm to Tony's chest and the two locked eyes at the contact, breaths hitching simultaneously. Loki looked away too quickly and turned to Asta as he pointed to the arc reactor. Tony fidgeted slightly at the gaze Asta had trained on his chest. "My magic returns from Ginnungagap and lands in this. This is Anthony's _vapn_ where he stores his magic." Loki's hand settled on the arc reactor once more. "It is his _vapn_ and also a protective barrier for his magic."

"Hmm, magic attracted to someone else's _vapn_." Asta leaned back in her chair as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "The only answer I can think of is that you two are very similar."

"Our magic traces are exactly the same." Loki pointed out, looking up at Tony, who nodded, noticing that Loki still had his hand on his chest. Not like he was complaining.

"Yeah and our magic minds are twining in a way. Soon enough, we'll practically be identical magic twins." Tony added on, watching Asta open her eyes with a frown.

"You two are closer than you say and let yourself be." The elf placed a hand on Loki's leg, left it there for a few seconds, and then pulled away with a smile. "Ah, I see. It is nothing to worry about, Loki."

"What?" the god asked, just as confused as Tony as he finally pulled his hand from Tony. "How is this not something for me to worry about? My magic is leaving me without my will and returning to Tony. That is something to worry about, Asta."

"It's nothing, trust me, Loki." The god narrowed his eyes before sighing a sigh of defeat and leaning back in his chair, slumping a bit. Wow, Loki must be really comfortable near Asta to be so carefree near her. By the sounds of it though, Asta and Loki were childhood friends. "How's Sigyn?"

Sigyn! Asta knew her, too?

"I do not know," Loki bowed his head and his gaze flickered to Tony before reverting back to the ground, "I have not seen her since Thor's banishment. Our bond is gone as well. I fear she is dead, although I dearly hope not."

"Oh no, she's not dead. Our bond is still there. It's changed though." Asta's voice tapered down a bit at her last phrase. "Do you still love her?"

Loki's green eyes looked up at Asta and Tony felt a clench at his chest, finally making the connection between Sigyn and Sigyn he had read about in the legends. Sigyn was Loki's loyal wife who stood by him after being locked up after Lokasenna. For some reason, that never clicked. When he and Loki had gone through some of the legends together a week or so back, they never touched Lokasenna, given that they already knew what happened and there was no need to reread the legend.

"I can not say," Loki replied after a long silence. "It has been a long time since we spoke or last saw each other. I can say I miss her though. Terribly."

_Yeah, 'cause you keep whispering her name in the middle of the night._

"You should look for her. She was very distraught after you disappeared. You know how much she loves you." Loki scowled heavily, eyes trained on the tiled floor. "I can find her for you if you would wish for me to."

"Please do. I'd like to say goodbye." The sorcerer god stood up and turned to Tony with a small smile. Tony returned it with a scowl, which only made Loki chuckle lightly. "I still have to take you to the libraries, dear. No visit is complete without going there."

"Loki, she is in Vanaheim."

Loki turned from Tony with shock, a frown on his face. Tony himself frowned with confusion. Sigyn was nearby the whole time? And she never presented herself to Loki? That seemed a little off. If she loved Loki so much as to be foretold to keep her husband safe from a poisonous snake, Sigyn would not have hidden from him. She would've ran straight to him as soon as she saw him again.

"You said her bond changed." Tony said, watching Asta's brown-orange eyes turn on him. "What did it change from and what did it change to?"

Asta looked up at Loki before answering Tony. "We have a strong friendship bond, but after Loki's disappearance, it changed to an emotion one such as an animal bond."

"Kyna." Loki's eyes turned to Tony with much confusion. "Sigyn is Kyna, Loki. Kyna came to you as soon as you arrived in Vanaheim and she's emotionally attached to you. She watched over you while you locked yourself up in your own prison and you escaped your bonds through me, _god damn it!"_

Asta crinkled her brow with confusion but Loki caught on quickly, face paling dramatically as he slide to the ground. "No, no, that can not be it. There was no poisonous snake she was protecting me from."

"You were the snake, Loki. She was protecting you from yourself by keeping you company. Animal companions can do that, even non-magical ones like dogs on Midgard."

"And the bonds, the bonds were broken before Lokasenna, that does not add up!" Loki looked up at Tony with dark green eyes. "Lokasenna occurs and then I am to be locked up for my crimes!"

"Maybe what we thought was Lokasenna wasn't Lokasenna after all."

"But that was exactly like the legend, Stark! That _was_ Lokasenna. What else could be—oh no. The Bifrost fight."

Tony knelt down beside Loki as the god's breathing became labored. Tony hadn't learned much about Loki's past pre-invasion, but from Thor, he had heard a bit about how Loki had yelled at Odin after finding out of his birth race and then fought Thor on Midgard and fought Thor again on the Bifrost and then let go of Odin's staff to fall into a portal that was created when the Bifrost broke.

Lokasenna was the flyting of Loki, his final verbal insults toward those close to him. That was what a flyting was. The point of giving up and lashing out verbally. Then what was what they thought was Lokasenna? Just a tantrum Loki threw that went overboard because he found out he killed Baldr? It practically followed the myth exactly. Was Tony wrong? Was Loki currently locked up now in a different way post-Lokasenna? Locked up for his crimes?

"Maybe I'm right and that Ragnarok is even closer than we thought. Maybe I'm wrong and Lokasenna really was what we thought it was and that I really did stop it to stop you from being locked up." Loki calmed down a bit, eyes still glazed over. "Either way, Ragnarok will come and I am going to make sure you don't lead that army, Loki. Whether you get locked up and Sigyn watches over you or you're home free and back on Midgard, you will not lead that army, understand?"

Loki nodded carefully, turning to give Tony a smile. "I'm sorry, I know not what came over me. I—"

"There's no need to apologize, idiot. You're under more stress than me. I'm doing my job and you're the one going against the preset "rules" of Ragnarok." Tony felt this sudden urge to hold Loki in his arms and cuddle him close to his chest and just comfort him like that.

Loki's eyes closed slightly as he nodded slowly, climbing to his feet. "We should go to the library and figure out how I am reaching Ginnungagap in my sleep."

"First, let's visit Kyna."

Loki gulped slightly, but nodded, turning to Asta. "It was wonderful seeing you again. I wish the circumstances were different."

"At least you came by. And when you come by next time, I want to hear that you have bucked up and gotten yourself someone. You cannot go traveling alone anymore, Loki. You are not a loner no matter how much you may wish to be."

Asta's eyes lingered on Tony before she smiled at Loki, who rolled his eyes, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder before the room disappeared and Tony found his eyesight consumed with Ginnungagap and colors. Red was included with the swirls of green, silver and blue this time, bringing questions to Tony's mind.

When they arrived at Loki's house, Kyna came running into the bedroom, tail wagging like never before. Loki stared at her carefully and Tony noticed there were slight tears in the god's eyes.

"Sigyn." He said quietly, the dog freezing all motion. "You've been cursed, haven't you? Cursed to follow me like this, like a dog."

Loki put a hand on Kyna's head and Tony watched as green sparks exploded from the god's hands, landing on Kyna. The sparks spread and melted across the dog's fur, seeping in until Kyna was lost in a green haze. Loki pulled his hand away from Kyna and stood beside Tony as the silhouette of a woman emerged in the green haze. Once the haze disappeared, Tony found himself looking at a beautiful blonde goddess whose bright blue eyes were wide with shock.

She was dressed in a simple short white dress with lace and a blue ribbon across the waist. She had on black combat boots and black pants under the dress. Golden gauntlets dressed her arms and golden shoulder pads dressed her shoulders. Blue eyes turned to Loki and Tony watched the god carefully, finding that Loki had put on a mask of indifference.

Sigyn ran toward Loki and wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him, tears pouring down her face. Tony looked away with a slight growl when Loki held her close and kissed back, arms around her waist.

"Loki," Sigyn said, cupping the god's face. "You're okay."

"I am." He replied, voice a little off. "Who cursed you?"

"Amora. She cursed me to take the form of a dog and sent me to Vanaheim with no way to teleport myself to Asgard." The goddess kissed Loki again. "I'm just so happy to see you again."

"I know, my love."

Tony's hair stood on end at those last two words. After Tony and Loki's first kiss, Loki went to sleep and called Tony _my love_. The next night and ever since, he started calling for Sigyn. Coincidence anyone?

"Ah, I'm just gonna go now." Tony coughed as he walked toward the door, feeling very intrusive and like a third wheel. Again.

Loki turned to face Tony with confusion and man, Tony wanted to punch Loki in the face so fucking bad because Loki knew, _Loki_ _fucking_ _knew_ Tony wanted more than friendship and here he was making out with Sigyn in front of Tony and then thought he had the right to look at Tony with confusion like "why are you leaving? I'm just kissing her".

"And you know what? Fuck you, Loki." He spat as an add-on before storming out of the room, slamming the bedroom door shut with anger and hurt.

Tony stormed out the house and sat down on the porch, crossing his arms angrily as anger boiled in his gut. This was supposed to be the day of exploring worlds and learning more about magic, not meeting all of Loki's previous romantic involvements. Oh yeah, he saw the connection between Loki and Asta. They weren't just friends back then.

What the hell was the world trying to tell him? That he would only end up being like Asta and Sigyn and all of Loki's previous partners? A friend turned lover then ignored for years on end? Was this a sign that maybe he shouldn't burn inside for more with Loki? That he shouldn't let his feelings for Loki dictate his actions toward the god? That he should completely ignore all advances and obvious attraction and just settle with being Loki's emotional punching bag?

No way, not in this world or in any other of the nine worlds. If Loki didn't want to get in a romantic relationship because romance and war don't mix, fine, but the fucking bastard couldn't just go reacquaint himself with his previous lovers like that after telling Tony no. Yeah, Sigyn was his supposed wife, but he never mentioned her at all face-to-face with Tony until today. It didn't help that Loki thought her dead until today, but still.

"Stark,"

"I recommend you leave before things get messy." Tony growled, feeling the presence of Loki behind him.

"Things are already messy," the god replied. Tony didn't budge and felt more anger as Loki sat down beside him. "I—"

"Nope, not listening." Okay, now he was being childish, but fuck it, Loki deserved it in a way. "I can't hear you over the sound of such beautiful silence."

A smirk formed on his lips as he heard Loki's low growl. "Stark, I know you are unhappy about—"

"Unhappy?" Tony turned to face Loki, who was glaring at him slightly with his emerald green eyes. "I'm not unhappy, Loki, no, I've been unhappy my whole life. Happiness is being unhappy for me. I'm fucking pissed. I'm Hulk angry right now. I am seconds from choking you like you're Bart Simpson, damn it."

"I didn't—"

"What? You didn't think I would get upset at seeing you kiss another woman after tell me no, you didn't want to do anything with me? Who do you think I am, an emotionless android or some shit? If I didn't care for you, I would have killed you as soon as I found out how. If I didn't like you, I wouldn't let you stay in my tower until you feel able to visit Asgard again! If I didn't love you, I wouldn't be so fucking _pissed_ right now!"

"I was not trying to hurt you and as I have told you many a time before, I never mean to and I never want to hurt you, Stark. Not anymore."

"Haha, well you just screwed yourself up big time on that, Laufeyson."

Loki's eyes widened slightly before narrowing as he stood up from his seat beside Tony, who was glaring at the empty street before him. "I do know Elven magic, but I don't use it."

"Why not?" Tony spat, still staring at the cobblestoned street.

"Because Elven magic can be used to perform seer magic. Elven magic contains a lot of charge naturally without having to use many sparks per second. A combination such as that makes performing seer magic easier, even though most seers are Vanir."

"You can perform seer magic?"

Tony looked up at Loki, who was crossing his arms as he looked off into the distance, green eyes slightly glazed over. "Yes, I can, even though it can kill me."

"Kill you?"

"No one but elves can use Elven magic because of the properties within the magic that work well with the physical and psychological properties of elves. If anyone else tries, they could die." Loki looked down at Tony, who looked away angrily. "I learned it many years ago in secret, figuring out a way I could condition myself to use it. I wanted to be able to easily use seer magic and see what Thor and I would become when we grow up. I never got past the announcement of Thor's crowning though, so I could not see what I was to do to prevent it."

"Can you use it right now?" The two locked eyes and Loki looked away first, uncrossing his arms.

"I can, but I will not use Elven magic for it. I would prefer not to die by magic."

"Nah, magic's got to save your death for me." The man snapped, still sore and angry. He realized his words though and watched Loki's face hardened dangerously. "I don't mean it like—"

"Do not apologize, Anthony. I understand what you mean." A small smile slipped onto Loki's face as he turned toward Tony. "What is it you want me to see?"

"Our future." Loki's eyes widened just a bit. "What will happen between you and me with Ragnarok so close? I don't ask that because we have feelings for each other, but because of your role in Ragnarok and my own."

"Fine."

Loki summoned his magic and closed his green eyes, magic of the same color growing into a warm cloud around the god. Tony grit his teeth as he felt that familiar pang in the back of his head and as the cloud of magic grew, the beautiful notes of Loki's melody echoed in his head as well. A warm feeling consumed his lower stomach, but he squished it angrily, in no mood to be in awe with Loki's magic skills or anything along those lines.

The god opened his eyes and Tony saw that his eyes were no longer pure green. They were swirling with many different shades of green (50 should he say?) and flakes of gold and silver and it was beautiful even though Tony wanted to be an ass and not admit that. He wanted to stand up and wave a hand in Loki's face to see if the god could see him, but decided against it.

Loki raised a hand carefully, trails of green following the movements of his fingers. His hand gently grazed across his body, the tendrils of green slowly darkening to a rich deep blood red. Ah, Loki's seithr magic color. It had finally changed like Hyrr said it would. Tony sat there quietly and turned as the door behind him opened and Sigyn peeked her head out with question.

Anger boiled in Tony's gut at the sight of her and he wanted to make her disappear forever so Loki would stop whispering her name in his sleep and finally give Tony such attention. Wait, was he jealous of Sigyn? Tony Stark jealous? Ha ha, so not true.

(It was.)

"What is he doing?" the blonde asked, eyes trained on Tony, who was trying his best not to glare at her even though she was doing nothing wrong.

"He's using seer magic for me." Tony felt like puffing out his chest and tried to ignore the fact that he may have emphasized the word _me_ for effect.

"Using seer magic?" Sigyn smiled softly before closing the door and stepping out onto the porch. Tony scowled slightly as he turned away from her and looked back at Loki, who was still waving his hand back and forth across his body. "You are Stark, the Midgardian Sorcerer, correct?"

"Yeah."

"You were nice to me when I was still in that dog curse." Tony nodded. "I thank you for that. I also thank you for keeping Loki company."

"Keeping him company?" the man turned to the blonde with narrowed eyes. "You were there in the room with a lot of lessons, Sigyn. I wasn't just company."

"No, you were more than that. I know." The goddess frowned slightly. "And I know he no longer loves me. I no longer carry his heart and I feel as the previous one to have it that I ask of you to care of it as best you can."

"I will, no doubt about it." Tony smiled lightly as Sigyn smiled softly. "I'm just trying to get him to submit to what he wants and what he needs, not what he thinks he needs. Not saying that to be selfish, but you know."

"Yes, he is a hard-headed man in that aspect." The two chuckled a bit before Sigyn sighed. "I will probably have to return to Asgard soon and alert the Aesir of my previous curse. If he has finished seeing the future for you by the time I am gone, tell him I said goodbye."

"You should stay for that. I don't want to anger him by telling him you've left. Augh, why can't I stay mad at him long anymore? I held a three month grudge on him for New York and now I can't stay mad at him for an hour." Tony moaned aloud as he pressed his face to his hands. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For lashing out like that. You don't deserve my jealousy, not like that. You are his wife after all. I'm just—"

"You are his love. Even though I am his technically his wife, I am not his love. I will have no affect on him from this point forward other than effects we would rather not have. It is time I return to being a friend and let you take care of him."

"Are you giving me your blessing?"

Sigyn raised her eyebrows with realization before she nodded. "Indeed I am." She gave Loki a longing look and Tony almost felt sorry for her. (He didn't fully feel sorry because now, Loki was totally and completely _his_ and boy, was Tony pleased at that.)

Sigyn closed her eyes and swirls of red curled around her body gently. What did red stand for in Asgard again? Ah yes, strength. Sigyn had strength. The strength to let go and move on for the better good.

Right as the blonde goddess left Tony's sight, Loki came back to reality with a gasp, a hand at his chest. Tony turned to Loki fully and stood up, finding the god in a frenzy, gasping for air as he sweated profusely. The sorcerer god leaned a bit on Tony's shoulder, eyes squeezed shut as he shivered in Tony's arms.

"What happened? What did you see?" Tony asked, wondering what the hell Loki saw that caused this reaction.

Loki didn't reply until the two arrived in the bedroom and the god sat down on the edge of the bed. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Don't lie to me, Loki; I'm not in the mood." Tony snapped angrily, a glare set on his face as he sat beside Loki. "What the hell did you see? You're sweating like a pig and gasping for air."

"It was nothing, Stark. Drop it." Loki spat back, green eyes narrowed dangerously at Tony before looking away. "I need to rest though. Seer magic is exhausting to use and I have probably alerted all the Odinsons of my presence. If Thor comes over, tell him I'm busy."

"No, no, you are not going to sleep until you tell me what the hell you saw." Tony grabbed Loki's face, watching the god snarl. "What scared you? What is it you do not want to tell me?"

"Why are you fretting so much, Anthony? I told you I saw—"

Tony cut Loki off as he shook the god angrily, getting frustrated with getting no answers from Loki. "God damn it Loki, what is going to happen to us? What is predicted to occur? Was our future that bad?"

Loki's eyes scanned Tony's face carefully, staring at him with this mournful look that sent shivers down Tony's spine. The god reached a hand out and cupped Tony's cheek, Tony leaning into the touch slightly as he maintained eye contact with the god, trying to decipher the valley of emotions in those green orbs, but he couldn't.

Loki leaned forward and closed the gap between their lips, pressing a gentle and soft kiss to Tony's lips. Tony's eyelids fluttered closed as he melted at the contact, surprised with how much he had been missing this, even though he had only kissed Loki twice before.

"I thought you said Ragnarok needs to be our focus, not each other." Tony pulled away from the kiss, a hand at Loki's chest as he gently pushed the god away.

"I don't care right now, I can't—" Loki squeezed his eyes shut as he took a deep breath and looked Tony in the eyes, looking so vulnerable and adorable in a way. "Our future. You asked about it. You asked if it was that bad."

Tony nodded slowly, wondering what Loki was getting at. Loki smiled and then started laughing, a genuine wide smile on his lips for the first time in what seemed like years. Loki didn't even stop laughing like he usually would once he realized he was laughing genuinely and Tony was nearby. Tony smiled at Loki's happiness and was struck with a rush of heat pooling down below as Loki pushed him back against the bed, hovering over him like before with his hands by Tony's head.

"It was not that bad, Tony. It was that good."

The man didn't really understand why such a good future would cause Loki to have a panic attack, but he didn't question it as Loki kissed him again and again, laughing between kisses until the laughter turned into sobs and he was crying over Tony, hair covering his face as Tony cupped the god's face.

Damn, seeing the future really shook Loki up. Tony's never seen him this emotionally unstable before.

"Why are you crying?" the mortal asked as he wiped tears from Loki's face.

"I hate this." Tony froze in his movements. "I hate it all."

"Why do you hate it?"

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I am supposed to start Ragnarok, bring the worlds to a close. I hate it because I know this is going to be stripped from me; that you are going to be gone." Loki looked away from Tony angrily. "And I can not stop that from occurring."

"Okay, so yeah, this probably wasn't supposed to happen, _but it did_. So, are you going to sit around and cry about it, or do something about it?"

Loki snorted at that, a small smirk crawling onto the god's lips before he climbed off Tony, hands in his hair. Tony sat up (admittedly a little disappointed) and Loki's back faced him as the god sat on the edge of the bed. The mortal sorcerer crawled toward the god, who didn't budge as Tony sat beside him.

"It was good, Anthony. Everything was perfect." Loki's voice was hollow and detached as he spoke, eyes unfocused. "And then, it wasn't. I tried to see further, to see the other paths that I could take, that we could take. The end result was the same every time."

"What was the end result?"

"Ragnarok was not stopped. I led the army into the final battle on Vigrid. Despite the possible progression of whatever we have, that was always the result."

"You do know it doesn't have to be. You can't see all the paths, Loki. Only the ones you've possibly created for yourself. It's like what Frigga said during Lokasenna. I'm sure there are paths you couldn't see that we could take. Ragnarok will be stopped, I promise you that. I'm pretty sure just saying that again opened up a new path for you to see, huh?"

"Perhaps." A small smile slipped onto Loki's lips. "Being a seer is a curse and at times I feel sorry for all Vanir here in Vanaheim."

"Why?"

"They are all natural born seers. They always see the future of anyone or anything they want to and for some, at that cost, they can not ever change their own." Loki's eyes darkened as he leaned back onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "I was a foolish and young child when I learned seer magic. I actually had not touched it in years before you asked me to."

"If I had know—"

"There was no way you could have known, Stark. Just know that it is foolish for those who are not born with the ability to see the future to try to be a seer themselves. The future is not something one should look into. All it does is ensure its happenings."

"What?"

"Once you know the future, I feel all that does is make sure that future happens. Like Macbeth in a way." Tony nodded with agreement. "I fear knowing the future only seals it in, even if it is an undesirable future and one tries to avoid it."

"Then don't think about the future, babe," Tony was surprised at the softness of his voice as he looked down at Loki. "Think about right now and right now only. The future will always change and all fretting about it will do is turn you into a blubbering mess."

"How can I _not_ think about the future? The whole world is coming to an end, Stark, and I am supposed to be the one to end it!" Loki's voice turned hard as he snapped at Tony, glaring up at the man. "I can not focus on my present, not when the—"

Tony cut Loki off as he leaned down and kissed the god, shutting the aggravated god up for a second or two. When he pulled away, Loki's eyes were slightly wide as he stared up at Tony, green eyes ablaze with confusion and anger and sorrow and other emotions Tony didn't bother to check out. "Relax. We've got this under control. Once I've got my shapeshifting skills down, we'll find the villains, defeat them and then voila, nothing to worry about. Do you not have faith in my abilities anymore?"

"No, it is not that, I—" Loki was once against cut off by a longer kiss. "Stark, we can't—"

Once again, cut off by a kiss.

"What-" Another kiss.

"About-" A shorter kiss.

"Ragnarok." An opened mouth kiss that Loki leaned up for more on with a little moan before realizing exactly what he was doing.

"Get off me." Tony kissed him again, unable to get the silly smile off his face as Loki moaned into this kiss as well. When the brunette started to pull away, Loki grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him back down, kissing Tony back hungrily like the man was food he had been denying himself access to for weeks.

(Which very well was sort of the case.)

"Change of heart?" Tony panted when he pulled away for air, staring down into Loki's blazing green eyes. A smirk formed on the god's face at that, pulling Tony down for another kiss before replying.

"I wouldn't consider this a change of heart. More of an acceptance."

"Acceptance of what?"

Loki raised an arm as he cupped Tony's cheek with his hand, eyes softening as he stared up into Tony's brown eyes. The man felt his heart jump in his chest as he recognized that look in those emerald green eyes, recognized the soft smile, the warm gaze.

_And it was all for him, all because of him._

"Acceptance of you."

Tony didn't know what that could mean. Acceptance of loving Tony? Acceptance of being with Tony in a romantic manner? Acceptance of Tony being the one to save his life in the end? Acceptance of Tony's trust or his trust in Tony? Those three words could mean many different things and Tony didn't know which one Loki meant, but in the long run, it didn't really matter as Loki pulled him down for another kiss, running his hands up Tony's shirt like before.

Those warm pale hands crawled down his back and Tony jolted midst a kiss when Loki cupped his rear and smirked, devilish green eyes sparkling with mischief and wanton desire. Tony smiled back and kissed that smirk off Loki's lips as they rolled over the bed together, the god now straddling Tony himself as they kissed with abandon. Hands roamed and clothing was quickly discarded as the minutes rolled on, a barrier no longer blocking them from the relationship they wanted between each other.

Tony panted against sweaty pale skin, eyes closed with passionate hunger as his lips locked with Loki's own. His name danced on the god's own lips and damn everything to hell if he didn't love the way Loki purred _Anthony_ into his skin. Damn everything to hell if he didn't love the way Loki curled around him, touched his skin with a gentleness he thought he'd never feel. Damn everything to hell if he didn't love the passionate promiscuous gaze in the bright green eyes of the god above him as they rocked against each other in each other's arms.

Damn everything to fucking hell if he didn't love every single second of it, every single breath, moan, pant, cry, whisper, locked gaze, shared gasp, brush of flushed skin, groan of lusty pleasure, _everything_. The way Loki's magic curled around him like the god himself did. The sound of their magic melodies swirling in Tony's head as he moaned aloud, pressing himself closer to the sorcerer god as he bucked his hips to Loki's thrusts. It was lovely and perfect and amazing and all sorts of things Tony couldn't think of as he peaked, letting Loki's name slip from his lips as his final cry of passion.

And when Loki came, when Loki reached his climax riding off Tony's own, it was the most breathtaking sight Tony had ever seen. Mouth wide open with indents in the bottom lip from pearly white teeth previously biting down hard on it, sweaty black hair strewn about, green eyes squeezed tightly shut. A fist curled into that open mouth as the choked back cry spilled out, just the single exclamation of his name.

_"Tony!"_

And then he blacked out.

* * *

When Tony came to, he came to with the sound of Loki's name being yelled. Tony scrambled as he sat up, quickly looking around for the source of the sound. Loki bolted up from the bed as well, hair a complete frazzle mess as he cast a spell, light flooding into the night darkened room. His green eyes glared at the blonde thunder god in the doorway as his teeth grit together. Thor opened his mouth to say more and then noticed the scene he had just barged into. The god's face went incredibly red as he backed out of the room, closing the door behind him in the process.

"Uh," Tony said, watching Loki plop back onto the bed, turning on his side to face Tony.

"He finally felt my trace and decided to look for me." Loki sighed before casting a spell that dressed him properly. "Stay here; I will be but a moment."

"But—"

Tony was cut off as Loki leaned forward and kissed him hotly, distracting the man for a split second. When the kiss ended, Tony's eyes fluttered open and the door to the bedroom was open, Loki just leaving the room. Tony sighed and proceeded to get dressed himself, walking outside the house onto the porch where Thor and Loki were standing.

"What do you mean you have heard nothing from the Jotunheim giants?" the angered sorcerer god spat, eyes trained on Thor.

"I mean exactly that, brother. Odin has heard nothing from them and recent scouting in Jotunheim shows that the giants are no longer there."

"Frost _and_ mountain?" Thor nodded and Loki snarled, fists clenched at his side. "Does he have any guess of where they have gone?"

"No, not at all. That is why I have come here." Thor placed a hand on Loki's shoulder, gathering the god's undivided attention. "Asgard needs you to use your powers to find them."

"Use my powers to find the Jotunheim giants? Thor, they are a complete race gone missing; how do you expect me to find them?"

"You are a Jotun yourself and you have the Casket." Loki paled, backing away from Thor. "With the power of your Jotun form and the Casket, you can track the whole race, Loki, all you need is—"

"No," Loki spat, shaking his head. "I will do no such thing for Odin."

"Then don't do it for Odin," Tony said, announcing his presence to the two gods. Thor avoided eye contact with him, but Loki stared him down. "This is our first hint, Loki. The first hint of congregation and the beginning of your army. If we find them and stop the congregation, we can stop them from attacking Asgard and the rest of the worlds. I know you don't like your Jotun form, but we've got to find the missing giants."

Loki glared at Tony before turning to Thor. "Fine, but I do not plan on letting Odin use me as a simple tool because he lost track of the Jotunheim giants. He should be grateful I have agreed."

"I am sure he is."

A small smile twitched on Loki's lips but the god turned it into a frown as he turned to Tony. "Are you coming with?"

"'Course I am. Midgardian Sorcerer, hello? It's sort of my job to stop Ragnarok."

Green eyes softened slightly before turning to the lit torch. With a wave of his dainty hand (whoa, thoughts just started going down the gutter remember all the things Loki's hands did to Tony earlier), Loki extinguished the fire, the orange flames flickering once before dying out, the porch darkening with only the light of the moon nearby. "We should go now before time runs out. Give me your hand, Anthony, and Thor, alert Odin that we will be there shortly."

Thor nodded and left the house, using his hammer once outside to teleport to Asgard. Tony placed his hand in Loki's and watched the god gently close his eyes. Green magic swirled around the two, brushing against Tony as the spell began. It took a second before Tony realized something was off (the wind had suddenly gotten very chilly too fast), but it was too late as Loki's eyes opened and he coughed up blue blood, letting go of Tony's hand in the process. Tony's gaze trained on the blue ice spear lodged in Loki's torso as the god stumbled on his feet, hands pressed around the bleeding wound.

"I think I just got stabbed." Loki whispered before falling to the ground in a crumbled heap, frost dancing across his armor as the dark blue of Jotun skin took the place of his Aesir peachy white.

Tony could only reach out with a cry as Loki's spell cut off from Loki and Tony found himself floating through Ginnungagap toward Asgard alone, Loki still in Vanaheim as the product of an uncompleted spell.

_It was good, Anthony. Everything was perfect. And then, it wasn't._

* * *

Gershwin's Three Preludes are _awesome_, Tony's just hatin'. I played the first one when I was 12 and tried to learn the second one, but my hands were too small (they still are lol)! This is the final update for 2013, btw! I'm going on vacation, so I decided to post this chapter up sooner than later. Happy holidays, have a great end of the year and beginning of a new year, and I'm sorry for the ending. Keep reviewing, all feedback and comments are appreciated dearly and I'll "see" you in 2014, readers! Adios!~

-Avengurl

(EDIT 12/31: Happy New Year's Eve by the way! I posted up Chapter 11.5 as a one-shot called _Dreaming_. Check it out if you want the inside scoop between chapters 11 and 12. Chapter 12 should be up soon enough. Until then, my readers and thanks for the reviews!~)


	12. Stolen Relics

A/N: To spare you of waiting longer, I will not post my replies to your reviews here for this chapter. Still, I thank all of you for sticking with this! I'm really happy you all like it. Guess what? _THIS CHAPTER MARKS THE HALF WAY POINT!_ Yup, 12 more chapters left and we're done! Don't cry my readers, I'm sure you'll feel content with the end of the story :) Now read on!

* * *

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 12:** _Stolen Relics_

Rating: T

Length: 10,030

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: "You are home," she muttered, closing her eyes once more. "We are both home where we belong and nothing can tear us apart. Not ever."

* * *

Tony landed in at the palace gates of Asgard a split second later, falling to his knees as the image of Loki with that ice spear in his chest continued to invade his mind. Part of him wanted to teleport back, to find Loki and get him to safety here in Asgard, despite the god's wishes to stay away from the land of the Aesir. Another part of Tony knew he had to report to the King and Queen of Asgard what had just occurred and even though he wanted to make sure Loki wasn't going to die or get captured, he knew what was more important at the moment.

"You gotta let me in," Tony told the guards once he got back on his feet. He was in his fighter mindset, his serious mode. "Queen Frigga and King Odin need to hear what I have to say."

One guard looked him over with a raised eyebrow. "You have blue blood on yourself, mortal man."

Tony's stomach lurched at that, knowing the blood on him was Loki's, but he didn't comment or let the guards know he was sick at the thought. "Yeah? And? If you've heard, the frost giants have gone missing and one of them just tried to kill my lov—Loki, so if you could, let me past the damn gates."

They waited one second too long to open the gates.

Tony quickly teleported himself to the other side, resulting in the guards yelling at him to get back over the gates. Tony didn't listen though and ran across the road, focusing on the trace of Frigga, of Thor, of Sigyn even. Anyone really so he could tell them what just happened. His magic located Frigga and Thor in the same area, so Tony ran there immediately, letting his magic swirl around him, following him in clouds of blue.

He took a quick look back as he ran, half concentrated on tracking Thor's trace and half watching the gold clad guards come closer. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to teleport over the gates without permission. Especially with the blue blood splattered over him.

"Guards, a mortal has infiltrated the palace gates! Catch him quickly before he launches an attack."

Tony laughed to himself as he turned a corner, skidding to a halt as he saw a troop of guards running toward him down the hallway. Damn it, he was cornered. Curses flew from his mouth as he tried to think of something to do. If he got caught, Tony would be in so much trouble by everyone imaginable. Odin would probably lock him up before Tony could report his valid reasons for trespassing.

Tony closed his eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on the hum of Thor's magic. It was the first time he had truly concentrated on Thor's magic and he sort of liked it in an odd comforting way. The blonde god's magic cooed a soft stringed hum full of crunchy chords and the occasional crash of crisp notes that sounded like a clash of thunder or a strike of lightning.

Once he got a strong hold on the magic trace, Tony teleported himself over to the most active source, stumbling on his feet as he landed. A multitude of eyes turned on him, including the familiar blue gazes of Frigga and Thor. A smile jumped onto Thor's lips as he ran toward Tony, who was still wobbling a bit from the teleportation. Tony had never teleported in that way before. Loki never thought him how to use the lock on a trace to teleport of the strongest source.

(Good thing Thor had his hammer on him, huh?)

"Anthony," the blond thunder god cheered. His face slowly fell as he finally noticed Loki wasn't with Tony. "Where is Loki? Do not tell me he backed out."

"No, we got set to leave as soon as you left." Thor's eyes racked over Tony and his blue eyes widened at the sight of the blue blood.

"Blood. Blue blood."

"It's Loki's. We got attacked. Rather, he got hit with an ice spear." Images of the incident passed through Tony's head and he cringed. "I felt the change, the drop in temperature, but I was too late. I couldn't stop it and now, Loki's bleeding out on the porch back in Vanaheim and—"

"Why are you here then instead of with my brother? Did you run away?"

"No! God no, Thor, I'm not a coward and I'd never run away from Loki, you know that." Tony was quite appalled that Thor had even thought such a thing. Thor saw Tony and Loki cuddling midst sleep earlier. Plus, Tony and Loki's bond had to have changed after the sex.

Loki told Tony during his scouting that if one had the traces encoded of two people who had a bond between themselves, then that one person knew what bond those two people had because bond magic was in the traces. That was how Frigga knew Loki had reinstated the crude lover's bond post-Lokasenna. She knew Tony and Loki's traces and therefore knew the bond they shared.

That was probably why Frigga was currently giving Tony this look like she knew what Tony did with her son. It was an awkward intimidating look that made Tony want to shrink and hide. Instead, he gave her a wink before turning back to Thor.

"Loki cast the spell to teleport us and getting hit caused the spell to only teleport me to Asgard. I want to go back though; I need to get Loki to safety, to save him, but I can not do it alone. Especially if there are multiple giants there." Thor nodded carefully, blue eyes turning toward Odin, who was staring at the sorcerer and god with a blank look.

Tony turned to face Odin as well, letting his brown eyes bore into Odin's single grey one. He found it sort of funny that Odin had an eye patch like Fury, gold not black, but still intimidating and daunting. It didn't help though that Odin was sort of Tony's boyfriend's adoptive father. Everyone knows how the fathers are about their little princess and their dates.

Hehe.

Anyway, here Tony was having a staring contest with the King of Asgard. He needed to let Odin know how serious he was. Odin had felt his trace once before during Lokasenna when Tony and Loki fought. The King had to know Tony's relationship with Loki. Problem was, after all Loki had done the past year, did Odin think Tony's feelings were fake or real munuth? Could Odin even tell in the first place? Yes, he was the Allfather, but could he tell the difference simply through traces and bond magic?

"This is the Midgardian Sorcerer such as I had thought." The king's voice jostled Tony internally. It was powerful and booming despite lack of volume. Odin's voice carried magic within it. Tony could feel the magic laced in those words and it awed him.

On the occasion Loki spoke a spell aloud, which was rare and only if he was learning a new spell, Tony could feel the magic in those Old Norse words. The old languages carried magic like Odin's voice and words did, even though the King spoke English at that moment. With every word Loki had muttered, Tony felt a calm rush over him, bathe him in pure magic like being in Alfheim, but more soothing and less constricting. Everything around him felt like powerful magic, like the magic of Ginnungagap in its purest form.

"What was that?" Tony had asked after Loki finished speaking. The god had looked up with raised eyebrows, a crinkled brow and pursed lips. God, Tony had wanted to kiss those lips that day.

"Are you questioning the spell I cast of the magic within the words I spoke?"

"Both really. I have no idea what you just did."

Loki chuckled at that as he closed the large and thick green Asgardian book he was reading from. "That was a tracking spell on my magic. I believe it will track where my magic goes midst sleep and how I am opening my magic mind while sleeping." The raven-haired god brushed a few strands of hair from his face before continuing. "As for the latter, all the Old languages carry magic still. Those of us of the nine use Old Norse, given who believed in us at our time of youth and appreciation for humans. These Old languages carried magic because mortals on Midgard spoke them. In order for druids, shamans and others who used magic to use seithr magic, seithr magic in the case of those who spoke Old Norse, they needed a source of magic. Midgard carries none as you already know, so the words spoken while casting spells carried the magic. Even though mortals no longer cast spells in the Old languages and the action of speaking spells is no longer common throughout the nine, the language still carried magic in its words."

"Why did you speak that spell aloud then? Usually, you just call on your magic, solve some equations, plug numbers into a formula and then bam! Spell complete."

"In order to internalize the spell, I speak it aloud to taste the magic. To feel how much magic is laced in those words and to remember the amount so I can create a formula for it and not have to speak it again."

"Damn. That's work."

"It is." Green eyes went downcast before locking with Tony's brown ones with a smile, "but I enjoy it. When formulas and the magic mind became more popular, the need for speaking spells aloud decreased. I was among the few sorcerers who created formulas for these spells so speaking them was not necessary."

"Really?" Tony's eyes widened at that fact Loki shared.

"Formulas and the magic mind are very recent, Stark, only a few hundred years of age. That was how I became a master of shapeshifting magic. I created the formulas for it. That is also one reason why I wanted to teach."

"How old are you?" Tony exclaimed, watching Loki chuckle. "Seriously dude, in the Eddas, everyone is speaking spells. There's nothing about magic minds or formulas."

"Oh Stark, I am old, very much so." The look that overcame Loki's face as he muttered that sentence made him look much older to Tony. "At the time of your Eddas, I was in my youth, somewhere around the mortal ages of eighteen to twenty-three or so. I was but a babe in the Asgard/Vanaheim dispute and I was probably nineteen when Sleipnir happened."

"Teen mom, anyone?"

"Shut up."

Tony grinned as Loki scowled and crossed his arms. "So, how old are you now? You look about thirty or so."

"Ah, I am most likely thirty-two. I have not calculated my mortal age in a while." The green book opened again. "That was your magic lesson; now get in your disguise and go scouting, Stark."

"My name is Tony, Princess. How long will it take before you call me by my name?"

"As long as it takes for you to cease calling me Princess. I know I am one, Stark, but there is no need to flaunt it."

"Hey, well, not everyone gets to say they got a hot make out session with the princess of an interstellar world of giants."

Tony had teleported away before the bolt of green struck him. Loki's face was priceless though; flustered, flushed and the perfect amount of raged. Tony knew for sure if Loki wasn't so adamant at the time about them not being together, he probably would've kissed Loki right then and there.

"I am sorry I was unable to properly thank you for defeating Loki and the Chitauri." Odin's magic-laced voice tore Tony from his thoughts of Loki. "I see your relationship with him has changed dramatically. You do understand that being his student, being his friend and being his lover does not guarantee Loki not taking control of the Jotunheim giant army and his daughter's army of the dead."

A few gasps rang through the throne room at the word "lover". Thor shuffled on his feet, Frigga turned a little pink, but Tony did not budge. "I understand completely, but it is my job to make sure that does not happen. I am not saying that I befriended Loki to gain his trust and console him not to lead the army. In fact, I wanted to kill him and that was the reason why I accepted this deal. Whatever had transpired between us was not planned. I only hope it helps at this point, but I plan on stopping Ragnarok before Loki can get a hold of the army. Hell, even before the army comes together."

"And if that does not happen, will you be prepared to kill him so the army has no leader?"

Tony's face hardened dangerously as a snarl crawled onto his lips. "His death is not the answer, Odin. If he gets a hold of the army, I can talk him out of it like Lokasenna. He expects me to kill him, he told me so himself many times. I won't do it."

"If you were to find yourself in a battle against Loki, could you kill him?"

"I very well could kill him, but that does not mean I will."

"So, you are compromised when it comes to battling Loki." The small smirk etched on Odin's lips made Tony's blood boil.

"I am not compromised. If anything, Loki's the one who's compromised." Tony took a step closer to Odin's throne, watching guards stiffen. "I can fight him, I just won't kill him."

"You can not kill Loki or you will not do so?"

"I will not do so. I know how to kill him; I've know for a little while now what I need to do in order to end his life." The dark tone Tony's voice took sent shivers, bad shivers, down his spine. Both Frigga and Thor paled slightly. "That is beside the point of my arrival though. Loki believes in me and me in him. Right now, he's bleeding to death if he isn't fucking dead already. I need your help; some guards or something to come with me back to Vanaheim to bring Loki here. You do need him for the Casket and tracking the giants."

Odin's gaze slightly hardened at Tony before he spoke. "I can not send anyone to help you, Stark. My soldiers are needed here more than in the waiting arms of rogue frost giants. If Loki was impaled with an ice spear, I can only guess he is dead by now. I shall not waste my soldiers on such a task. Not when they are spread about this land protecting and patrolling."

"He's not dead at all, Odin, and you would know if he was! The bond would break; I'd be on my knees right now, I wouldn't fucking be here if Loki was dead." Tony spat back angrily, a little surprised that Odin gave up on Loki already. "I don't give a flying fuck if you have guards stationed all about Asgard, they won't do a thing and they will all be killed until we get Loki and the Casket and use him to track the giants and send them home."

Odin stood up, flares of gold magic sparking around him. Thor put a hand on Tony's shoulder as a warning and Frigga stood up as well, an angry frown on her face as she looked over at her husband. "Odin," she snapped violently, "Tell me you do not have the extra resources to retrieve your son from his death and captivity. All you need are a handful of soldiers. If you will not spare a few guards to save Loki, then spare a few to travel with Anthony to get the Casket before the frost giants do."

"I can do no such thing when Asgard is in danger, Frigga. I have to worry about the greater good and Loki may die, but he will die for a good cause of—"

"My brother will not die, not like this." Thor interrupted, his voice booming through the hall as well. "He was prepared to come to protect Asgard despite not wanting anything to do with this land. You can not let him die without accomplishing his goal of tracking the giants and sending them home."

Odin seemed to calm down once Thor came to Frigga and Tony's defense. Tony was really surprised that Odin gave up on Loki so soon. Odin seemed to submit to Loki's fate more than Loki himself did. No wonder why Loki had the attitude he did. His own father gave up on him before he could. Talk about little external motivation.

The good thing was that Loki had Thor, Frigga and Tony to support him. To give him the external motivation of fighting with Asgard and not leading that army of giants and Helheim dead. They wouldn't give up on Loki as easily as Odin and Loki himself gave up on Loki. They would support Loki the whole way through like a family should.

The sound of Thor calling his name yanked Tony from his thoughts. Man, his mind was really distracted and off track right now worrying about Loki. "My father has decided to send four warriors for the sack of the Casket."

"Not for Loki?" Tony replied quietly, letting his gaze gently brush over Odin as Thor turned him toward the door.

"No, not for Loki. I fear the Allfather has long given up on the prospect of my brother fighting alongside Asgard once more." Thor's face drooped as they walked toward the side of the hall. "I believe in Loki though, and these warriors will too given enough time."

"You know these warriors?"

Thor simply nodded with a grin before turning to face the golden doors, which opened, bringing in a bounty of light and shiny golden armor wearing guards. The guards marched down the golden stones toward Odin's throne, monotonous and void of all emotion. The three rows of guards all faced the throne and the middle row turned to face the entrance they had come in through.

Tony watched with a raised eyebrow as a brunette woman whose hair was in a tight ponytail marched in, a hand on the hilt of her sheathed sword. She was wearing blues and reds along with silver chainmail and other armor accessories. Her dark brown eyes stayed trained on Odin as she walked between the first and second rows of guards.

Three armor clad men-one short and sort of fat with red hair, another with cropped black hair, and the last with gel-tipped blonde hair and a beard—walked in after the woman, eyes also trained on Odin. The fat guy was short and obviously a dwarf, wielding an axe on his belt. A silver steel helmet donned his head and he wore gauntlets, shoulder pads and knee guards. The black-haired Asian guy (whoa, Asgard and diversity) had a long sword on his belt and he was wearing mostly black with bits of silver and chainmail.

The blonde bearded guy had a quiver on his back and a bow slung across his shoulders. He was wearing some odd yellow green color along with his armor of gunmetal gray. He stood tall and had a determined look on his face Tony found familiar for unknown reasons.

"Sif," Odin started, sitting back on his throne. All the golden guards bowed on their knees and the three men and Sif simply bowed their heads. "I thank you for accepting this offer of retrieving the Casket."

"It is an honor to take such a task from the King himself. We understand the importance of this and plan on finding both the injured prince and the Casket." Sif's gaze turned on Thor and Tony before turning back to Odin. "Volstagg, Hogan, Fandral and I will prepare to take Prince Thor and the Midgardian Sorcerer to Vanaheim before Hel takes her father before he is ready and before the Casket is lost to us forever."

With that, the four warriors bowed again and turned to leave the room. The blonde bearded guy grazed his blue eyes over Tony as he left and Thor stiffened slightly at that. The dwarf and the Asian guy also gave Tony different looks as they left. Sif walked over to them and stood before them, holding out a hand toward Tony.

"I am Sif of Asgard and I am pleased to accompany you on your trip to Vanaheim, Midgardian Sorcerer." Her eyes softened a bit after they shook hands. "I never thought you were real, but the fates have proved me wrong. I believe you can and will stop Ragnarok, as do the others."

"Thanks for the support, Sif. I'm glad Odin decided to get some warriors to come with me." Tony started to walk to the door with Sif beside him, but he stopped once he noticed Thor was not with them. "Hey Thunderer, aren't you gonna come with us?"

"No matter how much I wish to join you and retrieve my brother, I am needed here in Asgard." Thor's eyes turned to Odin, who was addressing one of the golden guards. "My father wished for my presence during council meetings and I fear I can not disobey him on it, especially with an impending war. You have the best warriors of Asgard on your side, Anthony. They are my friends as they are Loki's as I have previously told you. They will help you retrieve the dying Prince of Asgard."

Sif rolled her eyes with a smile before leading Tony out of the throne room into the main hall of the palace. Volstagg, Hogan and Fandral stood against the nearest gold wall and turned once Sif and Tony came into their presence.

"Anthony, meet Fandral," Sif motioned to the blonde, who nodded at Tony, "Volstagg," the red haired dwarf smiled with his nod, "and Hogan." The black haired warrior nodded as well. "Together, we will get Loki and the Casket."

"What is Loki doing in Vanaheim anyway?" Fandral asked as he pushed himself off the wall. "I thought he was locked up in Asgard so Odin could keep an eye on him."

"Loki was never locked up post-Lokasenna if that's what you're talking about." Tony locked eyes with Fandral, who eyed him suspiciously. "He came down to Midgard per my request and has been there since."

"Until today."

"Yes until today when he went looking for books in Alfheim, got distracted by Kyna, went to Vanaheim, and then he got injured and I got teleported here." Tony turned to the other two warriors. "If you don't know already, I'm Anthony Stark, the Midgardian Sorcerer as you all like to call me, and Loki's my teacher."

"Teacher?" all four warriors echoed, all quite surprised. Tony smirked; seemed like Sif and the Warriors Three weren't informed of everything after all.

During the walk to the armory, Tony explained everything excluding all the romance with Loki. He explained the first lesson (Volstagg laughed at Tony getting boners and Fandral snorted at Loki throwing up fire), explained Loki's illness and healing Loki, and went into detail about Lokasenna and Loki's female Jotun form and such. Tony tried his very best to speak nothing of his romance with Loki because he didn't want the four to think him compromised like Odin did.

"You come here dressed in mortal wear. Do you fight in such clothing?" Hogan raised an eyebrow and Tony shook his head.

"No, I have armor but it's on Midgard." The mortal man held out his hand, palm facing down as he took a deep breath. "I can bring it here though, just give me a second."

Sif and the Warriors Three stepped back as Tony called on his magic, focusing on the force behind it. His magic melody began to play and he turned toward the others as he heard someone gasp slightly. "Your magic sounds very similar to Loki's."

"Yeah, well, I told you before, our magic is exactly the same." Tony smiled before he concentrated on the feeling within the magic.

He focused on the way it buzzed around and in him. The way his magic melded with the natural magic in the atmospheres. Blue strands lightened to a light gray and then darkened to a silver sparkly gray. Tony gently brushed his hands through the air with a smile.

"I really don't know why it turned gray. It just does." The man frowned slightly at his words. "Loki says I'm doing something wrong, but I don't feel anything wrong. The only difference is that I'm focusing on the feeling of magic. Doing so calms it down and in a way, it calms me, too."

"You are switching magic forms." Sif muttered, watching the gray strands swirl over Tony's arms. "Aesir magic focuses on force. Vanir magic focuses on feeling."

"Really? I have two magic traces?" Tony looked down toward his hands and gray magic before grinning. "Awesome!"

After that, Tony waved both his hands in a circular motion, magic darkening blue once more. His airborne magic called for the stray magic embedded in the mechanics of his Iron Man suit back home. Loki had helped a ton, helping Tony take bits of his magic and put it in the suit so Tony could call on the armor by simply using magic.

Once he had a lock on the magic-laced armor, he could teleport it over to him or teleport it onto him, the latter much more difficult. Tony had only ever used magic to teleport his suit on Midgard and it was only from one side of the lab to the other. Who knew what would happen when the suit traveled solo between worlds.

The strands of blue continued to bath Tony in magic, swirling around his body in a Salior-Moon-esque sort of way. Or Tokyo Mew Mew. Or something. Either way, Tony felt like he was in the middle of a girly anime transformation. His magic pressed against him like it was his skin and then, it started to change color.

The blue on his arms turned red and gold, as did the blue on his shins. His Iron Man chest plate materialized onto his body in place of the magic. In less than ten seconds, Tony was left in his red and gold Iron Man suit, helmet on and faceplate down. The lights of the HUD flickered to life inside his helmet and the image of a distracted Loki appeared on screen. Tony's brow crinkled with confusion until the video Loki turned to face the camera, a smile on his face. The date on the video said it was recorded just earlier that day. Before Alfheim of course.

"If you are seeing this, I can only assume you have managed to teleport your suit to you. You also might be admittedly surprised to find it magic itself onto your body." Tony nodded as movie Loki stood up. "What you are in is Mark 47, the newest model of the Iron Man suit you have been working on. I made a few adjustments pertaining to the magic within the suit so now, it will materialize onto you from a distance, or fly and attach itself to you in pieces if you are close enough to the disassembled suit. I plan on explaining the mechanics of the suit later, but for now, enjoy the modifications and by the nine, do not bang it up too bad. You do not understand the amount of work I put into this for you, Anthony, but I must admit, it was worth it." A small smile slipped onto Tony's lips as video Loki smiled, too. "I wish I could see your smile and I am sure you will have a lot to say once you are done using it. Have fun, my love." Loki's face suddenly scrunched up and turned red as he turned from the camera. "Oh, wait, did I say that last part out loud? I did? Oh _shit_, stop the video, Jarvis. Yes, do it now and delete it immediately." The god ran his hands through his hair as his face stained red. "By Odin's beard, why did I say that? It's not like I love him. Cease your chatter, Jarvis, and turn off the camera this instant. Yes, I want to film it again. You are just as annoying as Stark himself; _no_, I do not want him to know I said that!"

Tony's smile turned into a super gushy one as the screen went black. "Jarvis, I thought he told you to delete the video and stop the camera."

"I may have possibly deleted the wrong video, sir. And the camera would not cooperate with my coding." The smug AI system replied to Tony and he laughed at the reply, flexing his fingers inside the suit.

It fit nice and he could feel the magic coursing through the whole device, all powered by the magic in his arc reactor, or _vapn_ (as it was now a weapon once applied to powering the suit). It was tighter against his body, more close fitting than any other previous model, but he loved it all the same. Being so close to his skin made it easier to power the suit via magic. He still had to program his suit to turn on to his elskath, but right now, this was amazing!

(And he would so have to tease Loki about the video once they met again.)

Flipping up the faceplate, Tony eyed the other four warriors, who were in slight shock. He smirked as he motioned to his armored self. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Mark 47 edition of the Iron Man suit in commission and ready to kick some frost giant ass."

"Did Loki teach you how to do that?" Fandral asked, crossing his arms with narrowed eyes. "Is the armor a glamour?"

"No, this is real armor here. The most recent model is the one I'm wearing. I prefer Mark 7, but that's not upgraded with magic yet; I've finally fixed it up from Lokasenna. Mark 18 is still getting painted and Mark 32 had some trouble with getting the magic installed, I don't even know what's wrong with that suit. We're working on it though. Mark 47 is the only one that works now, thanks to Loki." Tony flexed his joints before calling on his magic to power a repulsor. "It works perfectly. Right now, I'm using science magic. Most of the calculations are preprogrammed, but the suit is taking in the correct amount of magic necessary to power my repulsor based off my elskath, minus the body weight part. Loki and I put a hell of a lot of work into perfecting those formulas."

The suited man blasted at the ground, creating a crater in the process. All four warriors' eyes widened and Sif smiled lightly. "That is a great use of magic, Anthony."

"Yeah," Tony rubbed at the back of his armored head. "Well, I don't think I can use any other type of magic in my suit but Aesir, hence my reactor being blue, not Vanir gray. Also, I don't know if I can cast spells or do anything else but power my suit. Who knows if any other uses of magic while within the suit will cause something bad to happen."

Tony turned on his boot and hand repulsors, feet floating off the ground. He hovered slightly, gaining control of the energy and power in the magic rays before flying higher off the ground. Tony's faceplate slid back down as he hovered over the others.

"So, are you ready to get Loki now?" he asked, voice electronic through the helmet.

"I question your eagerness, Stark. Loki was just your teacher. I am sure you can get a new one even though he will be the best for you as you said before."

Tony contemplated telling Sif a bit about how he and Loki were a bit more involved than simple academic studies, but Sif's eyes widened and her face tinged pink. Ah, she must have his trace now. "Yeah. That's one reason why I'm so eager. Also, we need that Casket before the giants get it."

Tony landed on his feet with a thud, his faceplate rising from his face simultaneously. He locked eyes with Sif and the others before Volstagg spoke up. "Stark, you can teleport us over, correct?"

The brunette sorcerer froze. He had never teleported multiple people before. Loki had teleported him places, but he had never teleported Loki anywhere. He didn't have the other's elskaths either and would they really give that to Tony after just meeting him?

"Wait!" the five turned to watch a frazzled Frigga run into the armory. "Good; you have yet to leave."

"What is it, my queen?" Fandral asked, a cautious hand on his bow.

"If the frost giants are still on Vanaheim and if they see you, they may attack and wage war on Asgard. Anthony, if you don your Iron Man suit not of original Asgardian creation, the giants will associate you with Midgard and will attack Midgard as well as Asgard." Tony paled. "They will be able to tell you are mortal very easily and will automatically associate you with Midgard. If you wear Asgardian armor, they will associate you with Asgard and Midgard will be safe."

Aww. Tony really wanted to use his suit on the playing field. Maybe next time then. Frigga had a god point about the armor. Midgard would not be able to defend themselves. Not at all. Tony nodded and smiled as Frigga waved her hand and in a flash of gold, neatly folded blue clothing was in her hands. She passed it Tony, who took it with a thank you, and then passed him a long sword, which Tony took hesitantly. Guns were more his thing.

Once Frigga left, Tony climbed out of his suit and sent it back home, mumbling to himself that yes, Loki, he didn't bang up the damn armor. The man used magic to dress himself, a long blue cape billowing behind him off his shoulders as the clothing left his hands. Armored boots donned his feet and chainmail armor donned his arms and chest. The undershirt was blue and his pants were a rich black. The arc reactor glowed beneath the armor, giving the armor a blue tinged glow. Armored fingerless gloves melted onto his hands from his blue magic and silver metal shoulder pads materialized onto his shoulders. His gauntlets came next, pressed tightly against his arms. An intricate design was carved into the gauntlets, along with the design of his arc reactor.

Tony attached his sword onto his belt, sheathing it in the process. He placed a gentle hand on the hilt before turning to the other warriors. Sif nodded in approval before taking out her own sword.

"Do you know how to use it?" she asked, getting in a fighting stance. Tony quickly shook his head and Fandral laughed.

"You must know how to use a sword if you are such the warrior Thor claims you to be." The blonde snorted as he crossed his arms and leaned against a pole. "Even Loki, the acclaimed sorcerer he is, can use a sword. Granted, he is not the best, but he can most certainly kill with it."

"On Midgard, swords are outdated weapons. We use guns, which I can use quite well." Tony unsheathed his sword and held it in one hand as he summoned a sphere of magic in his other. "I'm more a sorcerer than a fighter, but I learn quickly and know a bit of hand-to-hand combat."

"Then let us fight."

Needless to say, Tony got his ass handed to him six times before he actually managed not to get tossed down after three swings. It was sad, but hey, he wasn't a swordsman and he never planned on being one. Sif smirked over him, the tip of her sword at his neck. She pulled away and sheathed her weapon.

"Get off the floor and teleport us to Loki. He is a strong god as he has yet to die, but we must not take chances." Sif then told Tony her elskath. Volstagg and Hogan did, too. Tony stood there with slight shock, surprised they shared such personal information so easily. "We know what is needed for a teleportation spell. Loki informed us of such when we were younger."

"Why are you guys so eager to get him anyway? After all he's done to Asgard, don't you just want him to die?" Tony asked as he made the proper calculations in his head.

"Loki is our friend. When he was king, we followed him, that is until his decision making endangered us more than it helped. He has saved our lives many a time and he has almost killed us many times as well. He may not think us friends and yes, we are very upset but mostly disappointed concerning the event of New York, but we understand the stakes of this current task. We understand what needs to happen. Loki needs support and Thor, Frigga, and you are not enough no matter how much you love him. I do not love Loki like I have before; our friendship is quite ruined and I doubt I could ever truly care for him again in the manner I used to before, but I would not mind helping him just this once with the chance of saving not only Asgard from Loki, but Loki from himself."

Tony smiled softly as Sif's words, telling her thanks you for her support. Loki still hadn't muttered much about Sif and the Warriors Three. They seemed to respect him though, or they did before New York and all. They wanted to respect their prince again and Sif at least was willing to give Loki one more chance.

"Loki is a strong warrior who has a family to live for. A new one given the addition of you, Stark. As Sif herself has said, he may not think us friends, but we will save him if not for himself, then for Asgard, our home. He is a Prince of Asgard whether he likes it or not and we will help him see that again." Volstagg nodded with his last few words before turning to Hogan.

"I may not have been close to Loki, but we fought side by side in many battles for many years. We were more Thor's friends than his and yes, we were not the kindest to him before Thor's banishment, but I will try my best to make up for it despite not being able to ever forgive him for breaking Thor's heart. There will always be a rift in our relationship, but I hope to bend it as best as possible. It is time to put the past behind and concern myself with the near future. Both you and Loki can save or end the nine worlds and we want to help make sure the former occurs. That starts off first with saving Loki and getting that Casket."

All eyes turned on Fandral, who still hadn't told Tony his elskath. Blue eyes bore into brown and a frown marred the blonde's face. It was obvious Fandral didn't like Tony much and Tony himself wasn't too keen on Fandral either. "Loki had done some unforgivable things recently, slowly tearing apart Thor in the process. As Thor's friend, I can not ever forgive Loki for what he has done." Fandral's gaze turned from Tony to the floor. "I see though that Thor and you, Stark, have forgiven Loki for his atrocious actions. I do not understand why or how, but I can accept that. And as Thor's friend, I must accept that Thor trusts Loki once more no matter how much that pains me."

"Thor told me once before that only those who love him so much as so hurt by his actions." That blue gaze turned on him. "I know you haven't seen him in a while, but he's changed. Give me your elskath and we can go over and find him and you can talk all you want. I'm sure you tow have a lot to clean up between yourselves, having been good friends in the past."

Fandral nodded slowly before he passed along the information, arms crossed with irritation the whole time. Tony completed the last of the calculations and frowned a bit, wondering how to teleport all five of them to Vanaheim. Teleportation was a hard concept that needed tones of concentration and magic.

"You are actively transporting yourself to someplace without your traditional mode of transportation," Loki had explained carefully after Tony's first time scouting for the villains. "First, you need a place in mind. You must picture it vividly and it must be the only place in mind. Teleporting to someplace in front of you is much easier than traveling worlds. Picture that desk across the lab right now. Think of nothing but it. Now, plug in your elskath for the formula of teleportation. This formula gives you the correct amount of magic necessary to teleport yourself. No matter where you go, you will always use the same amount of magic until your elskath changes."

"What about teleportation to and from Midgard?"

"That requires different formulas since magic deteriorates on Midgard. You will always need abnormal amounts of magic as I have explained previously." Loki locked eyes with Tony, who was sitting on a desk. "Summon your magic and let yourself be where you wish to teleport to. Let every ounce of your magic, every cell in your body, every molecule that is inside you wish to be in that spot. Only when you are fully determined to be there will the correct amount of magic inside you reach out toward the magic residing in that particular spot." Tony raised his eyebrows as Loki teleported to that desk across the room. "Because Midgard has no magic, you will travel through Ginnungagap to arrive where you wish. This makes teleportation more difficult as it is easy to loose oneself in Ginnungagap and forget where they were headed."

"Sound dangerous."

A smirk crawled onto Loki's lips before he teleported back to Tony, his green magic seeping back into his skin, a bit of it dissipating in the air. "The residue magic around me is the after affect of teleportation. No matter where you teleport to, this will always happen. Magic becomes unstable from such jostling as abruptly affecting all the magic and essence of time in that spot. The paths of fate the volva and seers see change with teleportation. The sudden presence of an object in a place it was not in a few second before changes much, Stark, much more than one would think. Re-association with Ginnungagap can stable ones magic on Midgard while simply being in one of the other worlds automatically stabilizes it. Now, you try to reach the table. Concentrate hard and do not get distracted. Teleportation involving Midgard is difficult."

Tony had nodded slowly, completing the calculations in his head. Once he did that, he willed himself to be by that desk. He wished for his body to be there, for his magic to fuel him and wish to be by the desk. Slowly but surely, Tony could feel the magic within him reach out internally. A cloud of swirled blue started to form around him as his magic reached out. Tony could feel his body sort of lean toward the desk like a magnet to another magnet of opposite charge. In the blink of an eye, Tony was floating in Ginnungagap, strand and rays of blue twirling around his body. His magic melody hummed softly about him, sending tendrils of warmth down his body. The nebula pattern of Ginnungagap swirled before him with his magic, Tony fighting hard to stay concentrated on that desk. _Don't forget the desk!_

In the middle of the nebula background and the blue strands of magic, a familiar shape began to appear. The gray of the cluttered desk slowly faded into sight and the rest of the room flooded his vision micro-seconds later. Tony lurched slightly as his feet suddenly met the ground and he regained his sense of balance. He turned to Loki, who was across the room with a proud smile adorning his lips. It wasn't the first time Tony had ever teleported, but god, did that teleportation make Tony the proudest he had felt in a while. Seeing that grin on Loki's face set his heart on fire and ne knew he wanted to see that smile non-stop.

On the return trip to Loki's side across the lab, Tony got a bit distracted in Ginnungagap and somehow Loki found him and pulled him back to Earth. They tumbled to the ground mid-air in each other's arms, breaking apart as they rolled on the ground, Tony grunting with slight pain. Loki stood up with a groan, rubbing his shoulder with a frown. Tony stood up as well, wincing as he put weight on his left leg. That fall was sort of hard.

"How did you get me back?"

"I yearned for your magic to come to me. In doing so, the rest of you reached out for me, alerting me of your whereabouts. I then teleported with you in mind and as soon as I felt your presence, I switched destinations, but sadly, my place in mind was a little off, given I had less than a second to choose a destination. You are lucky you did not wander off in Ginnungagap to someplace I can not reach."

"Is that what happened to you when you fell off the Bifrost? You got lost in Ginnungagap with no destination in mind."

"I had a destination in mind: Helheim." Loki's voice darkened. "But, the Chitauri found me first and yearned my magic toward them. I have only visited Helheim once shortly after Hel was stationed there. I was young at the time and formulas were not necessary then. I had forgotten the spell I could speak to send my soul to her and arrive at her side. Such a spell is Dark Magic, but I didn't really care at the time. I couldn't remember what Helheim looked like; I couldn't remember what my daughter looked like either, so I could not reach Helheim. I simply got further lost in the emptiness of Ginnungagap until Tha—the ones who found me felt my trace and forced me over to them."

Tony watched Loki carefully, hearing about what happened to Loki post-Bifrost fall for the first time. The god never spoke about his time with the Chitauri much or about his participation in the invasion. It was still a sensitive topic.

"Forced teleportation is a type of magic." Loki locked eyes with Tony, his green eyes dark like his tight-lipped frown.

"Forced teleportation without teleporting to the object to take it with you is a type of Dark Magic. If I had not teleported to you and then teleport us both out of Ginnungagap, I would have used Dark Magic." The room seemed to drop twenty degrees at those words. "The usage of Dark Magic permanently taints magic and physically scars the user of it. I will do no such thing, though. I know first hand the feeling of Dark Magic forced teleportation. Regular forced teleportation, which I preformed on you, is very difficult and has a very high risk of both parties getting lost in Ginnungagap or the spell turning into Dark Magic forced teleportation. Never use it unless you are positive you can teleport to the object and successfully teleport both parties back."

Tony swore he had paled a bit. Loki himself seemed a bit sick talking about it, going pale and eyes sometimes loosing focus. "When I teleported you to Asgard that one time, did I use Dark Magic?"

"No, you did not. That is one reason why I was so upset about that teleportation you performed. It is true that such a spell could have killed you on Midgard, given all magical activities performed on Midgard need more power, but I was more worried that you would perform Dark Magic if you tried again." Loki's eyes darkened as he gently leaned against a nearby counter. "You performed a type of teleportation magic that forcefully teleports someone, but through the bond, not the magic itself. It's completely harmless I can assure you of that, but it is very difficult and it can very easily accidently become a spell of Dark Magic forced teleportation. One could say we are both lucky that did not happen. What were you thinking of when you did so?"

Tony's face gained a little color as he coughed into his hand. "Um, I was thinking of you. Of your magic and your magic melody and, uh, a bit more."

Loki laughed lightly, brightening the mood a bit more. Tony was really loving Loki's genuine laugh. This time, Loki didn't abruptly stop or blush and snap at Tony once realizing he was laughing genuinely in front of the man. He simply sent Tony a smile before standing up straight, stretching his back. "Do not get lost again, understand? I will not always be there to catch you."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to better develop my skills."

At times, Tony hated his brain and his motor mouth. This was one of those times. "Hey, if you had remembered that spell to teleport to Helheim, what would've happened?"

Loki turned toward Tony with dark eyes before quickly looking away, his hands clenched into fists with the knuckles turning deadly white. "If I had remembered, I would have sent my soul to my daughter and let my dead body decay in Ginnungagap. If I had remembered, I would not have lead the invasion. I would not have been your enemy. We would have never met."

Those piercing green eyes turned back to Tony with an indescribable look. "In prison, I constantly wished I had remembered that spell as I fell through empty space. Combined with Frigga's looks, I found myself contemplating muttering the spell then and there."

"Why didn't you?"

"I was alive for a reason. I could escape and start anew. Get away from Asgard and learn Vanir magic. So I did. I discarded such thoughts of death no matter how much I may have wanted to literally disappear forever. It was foolish of me to think so in a way, but I knew someone out there needed me and it obviously was not Thor anymore. I felt some obligation to stay alive for them at least, whoever they would be." A sad smile crawled onto Loki's lips and Tony nodded softly, understanding Loki's words. "Being here on Midgard with you reminds me of the reasons to live. It reminds me why I never cast the spell, why the fates made sure the path I took included me not speaking that spell. Being with you almost makes me glad I lead the invasion." Loki looked away with gritted teeth. "At other times, being here makes me wish to utter that spell."

"What? Why?" Tony was appalled. Why the hell would Loki want to die when being with Tony pleased him?

"Why you ask?" the pale god held his head up as he turned to lock eyes with Tony. "Because I do not deserve this. I do not deserve this chance at life, this opportunity to share what I love, and this trust from you who was my former enemy. I deserve not this feelings for you, either, Stark." They were face to face now as Loki had started walking toward Tony as he spoke. Tony found himself entranced by that green gaze, by the valley of emotions pooling in those eyes. God, Loki was a complete and total mess and how Tony loved him so. "Most of all, Stark, I do not deserve you."

Before Tony could reply, he felt a pair of lips on his own and then, the soft comforting touch was gone. The musky wintery magical scent of Loki left with the god, leaving Tony stunned in his lab, a hand shakily reaching for his lips. They had agreed to nothing, to no romance, to focusing on Ragnarok. And then Loki kissed him the next day after the agreement.

It didn't happen again and neither man brought it up. Thinking about it though made Tony think back to Loki's words back in Vanaheim.

_Acceptance of you._

Tony shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to focus and concentrate on teleporting over to Loki instead of recalling memories as if the god was already dead. Maybe if he thought about the other four in a similar manner to how he thought about Loki minus the whole romance thing, then they could teleport over.

"I need you all to cling onto my arms for a split second." Fandral raised an eyebrow at Tony's words, but begrudgingly took hold of Tony's upper arm.

The mortal sorcerer took a deep breath before he concentrated on Vanaheim. He thought of the porch to Loki's house and then focused on the hums of magic coming from the warriors beside him. The different melodies resonated in his head, a bit distracting, but soothing in a way. Tony called on his back and refocused himself on Vanaheim, imagining every detail as best as he could. Swirls of blue crawled around the group and rubbed against their arms, twining them all together in a bath of Tony's magic. Everything seemed to start off well when it suddenly didn't.

Everyone's magic reached out toward Vanaheim like Tony's did and he figured everything was going smoothly. Then there was this loud popping sound like the sound of a gun being fired. It rang through Tony's ears and caused him to gasp, pulling away from the others. His blue magic left Sif, Volstagg, Hogan and Fandral quickly but instead of flowing back to Tony, it went into the air and disappeared.

Tony put a hand to his chest as he struggled to breath, collapsing to the floor with a hiccup. "Holy shit, what's wrong?"

"Stark, your glowing heart. It no longer glows."

The brunette sorcerer widened his eyes as he pulled his hand from his chest, finding no glow as Volstagg had pointed out. Where the hell did his magic go? Why did he not have it anymore? What was going on?

"Quick, get Frigga," he stuttered out, gasping for air as sweat poured from his body, "My heart needs to glow or I'll die. _Go get her!"_

The last thing Tony saw before blackness crossed his vision was Sif and Fandral rushing out of the armory and Volstagg kneeling beside him.

"Stay with us, Stark," the dwarf muttered softly to him, "You and Loki are not to meet again in Helheim; we will make sure of that."

* * *

Loki opened his eyes slowly, finding the ground lower than he remembered it being. Everything came back to him in a flash and he moved his arms to reach his belly, only to find himself constrained. And his skin to be blue.

"Princess Loki is awake," a voice boomed, startling Loki. The configuration morph wasn't complete yet; Loki was still Aesir Loki in mind. "I am sorry for the injury, my lady."

"Um, it's fine." Loki replied hoarsely, a bit startled at his voice. "I question why you did so."

"Do you not remember the plan? Bruthr made sure to strike you in the correct spot at the right time so we don't kill you and so we can get your lover out of the way." The giant entered Loki's vision and Loki had to crane his neck to look up into those blood red eyes. "The other two have gone out to tell the others in Asgard that we have got you."

"What?"

"Bruthr told me this would happen." The giant sat down with a huff, shaking the ground with his movements. "Remember, you wanted us to get you to Jotunheim to build the army. We would stay off the radar, "disappear" so to speak, and then turn you to your Jotun configuration so you can get rid of Prince Loki for a bit. Now you're here and we can regroup everyone with you as our leader."

Loki's eyes widened at that. That was what was happening in his sleep! He was switching configurations, hence why the spell he cast couldn't detect anything wrong.

"And we mind spoke about this, correct?"

"Of course. You told us the Midgardian Sorcerer keeps close watch, so we performed mind speaking in order to stay discreet and so that way Prince Loki wouldn't know."

"How would he not know?"

"He has my trace encoded since birth, as do you." The giant frowned slightly, eyeing Loki carefully. "I am Helblindi, your brother. Byleistr, King of Jotunheim, will be coming shortly. You mostly spoke with him. We decided to do so because Prince Loki has those traces encoded and has the bond from birth and we didn't want him to be suspicious of a new bond."

Loki could barely breathe and it wasn't just because of the news. The configuration morph was almost complete, he would loose himself and become Loki the Princess of Jotunheim.

The leader of the Jotunheim army.

Blackness overcame his vision and he slumped lazily, eyes rolling to the back of his head. Hearing a thump, Loki quickly sat up, a snarl on her lips.

"That hurt like Helheim, Helblindi!" she shouted, watching her brother carefully. "Now get me out of these binds and to Jotunheim before Stark comes."

"Of course, my lady." The giant rushed over to his sister and untied the bonds. "The King will be coming shortly. I was worried that the strike had caused you to have amnesia."

"Really?" Loki crinkled her brow, but pushed all suspicions aside. She felt a pang in the back of her head, a pang that signaled that Stark was using magic. "Hurry up; I can feel that the man using his magic."

Helblindi nodded and grabbed his smaller sister, cradling her in his arms. "I am pleased to see you once more, sister. Together, we can all avenge Jotunheim and the kidnapping of you."

"Of course we can."

Loki smirked before she waved her hand, strands of icy blue and white pouring from her fingers. She gave the Vanaheim hut one more look before casting the teleportation spell, ignoring the twinge in her heart at betraying Tony and Thor and everyone else. Loki had her reasons though. Thor, Odin and Frigga told her of everything that had occurred once she was awakened and she found it hard to easily forgive the people who called her their family. The Aesir who stole her from her people, who turned her Aesir, gave her a configuration to hide her true colors.

Now, they would feel her wrath, her pain, her sense of betrayal. She would avenge her father's death, even if it was technically at her hands. Jotunheim would have power again and she would lead the army to let Asgard know that Jotunheim will never back down.

Loki closed her eyes and took a deep breath as Helblindi ran toward the Jotunheim palace. Blue glowed between her hands and a split second later, the Ancient Winter Casket was glowing before her. She opened her eyes and grasped the device with both hands, smiling softly as the Casket glowed to the rhythm of a heartbeat.

"You are home," she muttered, closing her eyes once more. "We are both home where we belong and nothing can tear us apart. Not ever."

* * *

Chapter 12? Done! Don't kill me for the ending, it had to happen. Don't worry, good things should occur soon enough! Thanks for the reviews and faves and follows while I was on vacation! I thank you all very _very_ much for the encouragement and such! I hope you had a wonderful beginning of 2014! I went to see Desolation of Smaug on New Year's day. IT WAS FUCKING AMAZING. Yeah, I loved it a ton. Benedict Cumberbatch *swoon* Haha, thanks for reading! Happy New Year and such!

-Avengurl


	13. Ragnarok is Here

A/N: If I hit 100+ followers for this story in the next three days, I think I will scream. Anyway, here's chapter 13 for you guys! I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 13:** _Ragnarok Is Here_

Rating: T

Length: 8,164

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: This was it. Tony didn't stop it from coming after all. _Ragnarok was here._

* * *

Tony woke up with a choked gasp, an unconscious hand at his chest. He found himself in a comfy soft bed in a golden room, still dressed in his Asgardian armor. Turning to the right, Tony spotted Frigga sitting beside the bed, blue eyes trained on him with worry. The gaze soon turned pleased and the queen stood up, motioning for someone to come closer.

"He is awake; I believe the transfer has worked." Transfer? "Are my suspicions correct?"

"Indeed they are, my queen." a different voice answered, Tony turning to face the speaker. "Until his magic returns, yours will suffice."

"What?" Tony croaked, sitting up slowly. Frigga gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Your magic left your body, Stark," the queen averted her gaze. "We did not have time to look for it and I can only assume the Jotuns have it given their spell caused this to happen."

"Their spell?" Confusion struck Tony as the blonde goddess nodded.

"You were cast under a spell to keep you from Loki. Every time you thought of reaching him, a new imaginary distraction kept you at bay and took you deeper under the spell. The final one, where you tried to teleport, broke you from the spell, but it cost so much energy, your magic left your body to heal."

"Where are Sif and the others?"

"They are long gone. In fact, they brought you here when you started mumbling to yourself."

"Then how much of it was real? Did we get to the armory? Did you come bring me this armor?"

"You did reach the armory and that was when the mumbling started," Frigga sighed heavily. "Sif and the Warrior's Three are in Jotunheim looking for Loki. They did not find him in Vanaheim."

"Shit," Tony scrambled out of the bed and winced as he landed on his feet. "Stupid Jotunheim Inception spells. Is it off me?"

"As best as I could take it off, but it is disabled. I am no expert in Jotunheim magic and Odin has left after a sighting of mountain giants on Asgardian land. Until then, I have transferred my magic to you in order for you to assist Sif and the Warriors Three and to keep you alive." Tony opened his mouth to retort, but Frigga raised a hand. "Do not protest, Stark; I have weapons that carry my magic. If I need to defend myself, I can and will. More important though is finding Loki before something drastic occurs. If the frost giants have gotten him and taken him to Jotunheim, the cold of the land might force a configuration morph and they might trick Princess Loki into leading an army."

"Okay," Tony nodded as he looked down at his reactor, which was glowing gold. "Will it turn back to blue?"

"Yes, once my magic has settled into your body, it will turn the color of your magic. My magical charge and sparks per second though are the same. Right now, the magic you have is very powerful, so use it carefully and wisely." the Asgard queen pressed a kiss to Tony's forehead. "I thank you for all you have done, Anthony Stark. It is time for you to show us what you have learned."

"I'll be sure to."

With that, Frigga elegantly left the room and Tony let out a deep sigh, rubbing the back of his head. Great. Loki was missing, Odin was off fighting, Sif and the others had left and Tony's magic just disappeared. The only thing worse could be that the giants started attack Earth for random ass reasons.

Oh no.

Tony quickly called on Frigga's magic, which cooed a different soft hum he kind of liked, but didn't focus too much on as he had a destination he needed to reach. Swirls of gold curled around him and bathed him in color, little strands and rays lighting to Tony's traditional blue. Once the magic settled down, Tony thought of his Stark Tower and teleported there immediately, landing on the roof of the tower with a grunt. The sun was down and night was out, but the weather was colder than it should be despite it being late fall. A chill ran down Tony's spine as he turned toward the sky, muttering a 'no' as he saw the telltale signs of a portal being opened, Ginnungagap opening up to Earth like it had during Loki's invasion.

A rush of icy cold blasted New York as a hoard of gigantic blue patterned giants fell from the sky and landed on buildings, crushing them with their size. Blazing red eyes gazed upon the Big Apple and Tony gulped as one giant raised a fist and smashed an office tower, huge chunks of rubble and metal flying through the sky.

Snow started to fall in piles across the land and frost settled beneath Tony's feet as winter spread its chaos. He shivered lightly and turned back to the landing giants, more falling from the portal to attack Earth.

"An icy winter spread about Midgard starts it all, Tony," Loki's voice echoed through Tony's head as he watched in shock.

This was it. Tony didn't stop it from coming after all.

_Ragnarok was here._

One giant came stomping toward the tower and Tony blasted it away with a ray of magic, surprised at how powerful the magic was as the giant was sent airborne and came crashing down a few blocks away. Tony turned as he heard shouting, watching Steve, Clint, and Natasha come running outside toward Tony, all equally shocked.

"What the hell happened?" Clint exclaimed, turning to Tony for explanation. "And what's with the armor, dude?"

"In Asgard, this is fashion." the brunette sorcerer turned to the portal. "I don't know how the hell the portal came here; I haven't seen the Tesseract, but this is Ragnarok, guys. It's here."

"Odin told you that?" Steve asked and Tony paused before nodding his head. Odin had not told him that, but Tony couldn't say Loki did.

"Ragnarok starts with an icy winter on Midgard that lasts three years. Because Midgard is iced over and the humans are turning against each other, the other worlds become imbalanced, as Midgard is the one world closest to the roots and the heart of Yggdrasil, the ash tree that ties the nine together. As the worlds become imbalanced, chaos spreads and the battles of Vigrid begin." Tony turned from his friends to the scene before him. "It all ends when Surtr and his fire Jotuns attack Bifrost and burn all the nine worlds to ashes."

"Damn." Natasha mumbles, eyes scanning the wreckage. "We can't stand here and do nothing; how do we send them back if there is no Tesseract?"

"I don't think we can, Natasha. We just have to fight." Tony nodded over at the woman before he summoned his magic, conjuring a staff in the process. "No, I didn't want the staff, damn it, I wanted the sword. By the nine, I am so not used to her magic yet."

"Tony, did you just use magic?" Steve squeaked, gathering Tony's attention. The man held the golden staff in hand as he cocked his head with curiosity. He then recalled what he had done and laughed.

"Yeah, yours truly is the fabled Midgardian Sorcerer. Sorry I kept it secret for so long; I have valid reasons, trust me. Now if you excuse me, I have some Jotun ass to kick."

With that, Tony jumped off the roof of the tower and teleported himself through the air, landing mid-air to constantly teleport through it, a humble flash of blue sparking in the midnight blue sky. He landed on a building that had yet to taste the fist of a frost giant and blasted powerful magic toward the closest beast, sending that one far up into the sky. The other giants turned toward Tony and deemed him the real threat, leaving the screaming humans and undefended buildings alone. The Midgardian Sorcerer heaved his staff into the air with both hands and slammed the butt of it into the roof of the building he was on, sending shock waves of magic toward the giants. The giants soared into the air themselves, one getting impaled on a destroyed tower, blue blood gushing from the dead beast.

Tony turned toward the Stark Tower and waved over at his friends before teleporting over to some more giants, repeating the process. His fingers were freezing cold and the metal of the golden staff wasn't helping warm his digits, but he ignored the cold as he sent the giants away with waves of magic, trying to get them from the center of the portal and New York. Tony's teeth started to chatter as he continued to teleport, thankful that a portal to Ginnungagap was open. Because of that, magic was flooding the atmosphere of Midgard and that meant Tony didn't have to go through Ginnungagap during teleportation and his magic wasn't dissolving in the air; it all came right back to him (unless it was teleportation for reasons Loki had explained previously).

With a swing of his staff and a battle cry, Tony jumped into the air and smashed his staff against the side of a giants head, blue blood dripping down the cracked skull. The giant turned toward Tony with a scream, reaching out to crush the man in its' icy grip. Tony pointed the tip of his staff toward the beast and sent his magic through the magical weapon, watching it blast the giant's head off, pieces of skin and blood splattering onto Tony. He wiped at his face with disgust but didn't let himself spend time getting affected by the carnage.

This was war and he was supposed to stop it, so stop it he would.

Tony looked down at the streets that were swarming with screaming humans and contemplated finding a way to teleport them to safety. He didn't know where they would be safe, given that the giants were most likely all over the globe. Tony jumped down toward the people and waved his arms, gathering attention. They stared at him as if he was a freak and then screamed as they ran from him, deeming Tony another Loki.

Enraged at the insult (ha, like Tony Stark would send an army to subjugate Earth!), Tony called on his magic and teleported an entire crowd of citizens out of New York up into Maine. He had only flown over Maine a few times and he hoped the grassy plain he had sent the people to didn't have frost giants there. Just to double check, Tony teleported to the plain and sighed happily as the citizens were safe.

"Who are you?" one woman gushed, absolutely ecstatic that she and her kids were currently out of harm's way.

"The name's Iron Man, but you can just call me the Midgardian Sorcerer."

The woman's blue eyes widened as Tony called on his suit, which materialized onto him, the HUD flickering to life. Everyone else gasped and started cheering before Tony left the scene with a wave of gold and returned to New York. There, he saw Steve and Thor fighting off a few frost giants, backs against each other as they fought back-to-back. Tony came down to help them, blowing a few of the beasts back.

"I sent a group of people out of harm's way and I think I'll be doing so often," Tony started, turning to face Steve and the thunder god. "I'll need you guys to kill the giants; don't try to push them out of New York. I'll try to close up the portal and then-!"

Tony cut himself off as a sharp pang ran through his head, the sign that someone he knew was using magic. "What's wrong, Tony? What's happening?" Steve exclaimed, a hand on Tony's shoulder.

A smile grew onto Tony's face as he turned to Thor, who also confused. "It's Loki. He's here. He's safe."  
A wide grin grew on Thor's face as well as Steve looked between the two with utter confusion. "I will stay here and fight beside Steven even though I wish to see my brother after what has happened to him. Please tell him I am pleased to know he is alive, Anthony."

"Don't worry, I will."

Tony teleported over to the source of Loki's magic, crinkling his brow as he finally realized how different it felt. Loki's magic trace felt cold and chilly, not the usual warm feeling Tony was used to. It was Loki though, no doubt about it. That's when he saw the small form falling from the portal disappear in a flash of white. Multiple flashes of white tore through the night sky and Tony bounded after them, teleporting himself to wherever he last saw the flash of white.

The game of tag ended on the roof of the Stark tower and that's when Tony noticed Loki's skin was blue not white even though he was wearing his Asgardian armor. This was Princess Loki. She turned toward him with a smile, red eyes dark and haunting as the moon glistened off her blue skin. Tony stood his ground, feeling uneasy around the woman as he let the faceplate of his Iron Man armor slide up.

"Don't be scared, Tony; it's only me." she called, holding out a hand for Tony. "I heard about the attack and came down here as soon as possible."  
Tony eyed it suspiciously. "Why are you in this configuration? People will try to kill you if you look like this."

"The cold keeps me this way I'm afraid." Loki shrugged as she pulled her hand back to her side. "I see Frigga has given you her magic. I was wondering why I was feeling her magic trace so often."

"You brought the giants here, didn't you?" Princess Loki widened her eyes with horror.

"No, I have brought nothing but myself here. The giants captured me and took me to Jotunehim and decided to attack Midgard to try to break and kill you." Tony narrowed his eyes at the female Jotun, unsure if he could believe her. "I came here to alert you, but I fear I was too late. I know how to close the portal though."  
"Tell me how to do so."  
"I can tell you, but only I can do it. The touch of a Jotun of royal blood activates the device. That is why Odin needed me to do so." Tony's eyes widened slightly and he stepped back a bit as Princess Loki closed her eyes and summoned her frosty white magic. The blue Winter Casket appeared in her hands and she gripped it tightly, opening blood red eyes to stare into Tony's brown ones. "The Casket can close up the portal; that is how they opened it."

"Then c'mon; let's close it!" Tony reached out to grab Loki's arm, but she pulled away with a shake of her head, eyes full of concern.

"Do not touch me, Anthony; I will hurt you if you proceed to do so at this time." Tony nodded in understanding, lowering his hand. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what? You got injured; there's no way possible you could've come here any sooner. And it's not your fault that we can't touch when you're in your Jotun configuration, babe." Loki's eyes softened before she looked away, a shadow crossing over her face. "Right; no nicknames. Look, let's just get this done and over with. I don't want to fight these beasts as much as you."

"You're right; let us finish this." The hard bitter tone Loki's voice took sent shivers down Tony's spine. "We have many more worlds to conquer after this one."

Before Tony could say a word, a blast of white came at his chest and he fell off the roof, plummeting toward the ground. Tony quickly turned on his repulsors and soared through the sky, hovering in the air as he watched Princess Loki, who was smirking up at him, tails of white crawling over her body as her magic dressed her in the clothing of the Jotuns.

"What the hell?" Tony exclaimed, watching Loki shrug before blasting another stream of white from the Casket. Tony flew through a nearby building, pain coursing through his body once he landed.

Standing up, Tony brushed himself off and flew out of the tower, watching Princess Loki teleport from the roof of Stark Tower, once more a white flash through the sky. Tony gritted his teeth with anger before following her, wondering why Loki was suddenly on the frost giant's side.

"I thought you guys were gone for good. Off the radar and shit." Tony shouted when she landed on a building, red eyes trained on him.

"There is a difference between gone and off the radar, Stark!" she yelled back, watching Tony carefully. "Off the radar means you Asgardians can find us, we just aren't traceable. Gone? That means we're unfound and untraceable. Don't mix up the two."

"Loki, why are you doing this?" he cried out, blocking a bolt of icy blue. "Didn't you not want to lead the army?"

"He doesn't want to and he's not." she spat back, red eyes blazing with anger. "Now will you excuse me, I am off to continue to destroy this world of yours. Try stopping me."  
"Is that a bet?"

Loki smirked before she disappeared in a flash of white, landing on the ground a few feet away. Tony went after her, dodging a bolt of white sent his way. He launched an attack on her, but Loki waved it away and summoned a staff herself, a tall silver one that had a white orb toward the top. Tony wondered if the staff was Princess Loki's vapn, but he didn't spend too much time wondering as he was sent airborne by a sharp blast.

Gathering himself in the sky, Tony sent blast after blast toward the frost giant princess, striking her only once. Her angry red gaze turned on him and Tony regretted striking her down as pain shot through his body and he found Jarvis telling him he had 50% power in his suit and boy, was that dropping incredibly fast. Where was his magic directing itself then if it wasn't powering his suit? That's when he saw the white orb that was glowing gold, a string of sparkly gold leading from that orb toward Tony. Holy shit, not good; not good at all.

"Guys, a little help here?" Tony rasped through the intercoms, trying every spell he could think of that could stop Loki from taking Frigga's magic. She had some sort of force field around her or something because every spell he cast using war magic didn't work and bounced off her.

Tony managed to magic the Iron Man suit off himself and that caught Loki off guard, breaking Tony from her magic zapping spell. The brunette landed on the ground with a grunt and sent a horrid blast of blue her way, breaking the force field and sending Loki into a destroyed building. He ran toward her with his staff in hand, an angry glare on his face as he skidded to a halt, watching the woman stand from the rubble.

Before she could raise a hand, Tony swung his golden staff and shouted, a blast of blue so strong it sent him off balance striking Loki and making her scream. Tony coughed on his knees, grumbling to himself about stupid boners and off balance magic. Loki was on her knees herself, throwing up fire with a hand against her stomach. They both clambered to their feet simultaneously but before either sorcerer could do a thing, a giant green hand came crashing down and Loki screamed with shock as she was picked up by the Hulk and thrown half-way across town.

"Thanks, Hulk," Tony waved up at the giant man, who nodded down at the mortal sorcerer before leaping off to attack some frost giants.

Tony ran down the streets, gathering citizens and sending them away from New York. His chest was burning and one of his legs felt like it was on fire, but he continued on his way, battling frost giants and saving people until he reached Thor and Steve. The three of them fought the giants, inching closer to the portal as Thor called on lightning, Steve punched and threw his shield, and Tony cast attack spell after attack spell.

Everything was swell, well, as swell as the situation could be, until Thor got hit in his blind spot and went skidding down the street, hammer flying out of his hand in the process. Steve turned with shock and cried out, loosing concentration for a split second as he reached out toward the injured Thor. Tony managed to yank the super solider out of the way of a punching frost Jotun, both men tumbling to the ground behind a car.

"What the hell, Steve? You can't do that; you have to stay focused!" Tony exclaimed harshly to the blonde.

"Sorry, I just-," Steve choked out, gripping his shield tightly. "Do you think he's okay?"

"Of course he is, Cap; this is Thor the god of thunder we're talking about, not me. Trust me, if that happened to me, I'd be dead." Tony looked over at where Thor was lying, blonde hair strewn against his face as his body was splayed across the concrete. "He will wake up and then everything will be fine."

Steve's gaze continued to stay on Thor as the blonde captain bit his lip, obviously contemplating actions to take. Tony heard the nearby sound of magic and looked up, groaning when he saw one frost giant send a ray of ice toward a building, freezing it upon impact. Great. The Jotuns had sorcerers, too. Could this day get any worse?

"I'm sorry," Steve sighed before he ran out into the open toward Thor, wielding his shield as he approached the thunder god. Tony pinched the bridge of his nose but didn't go after Steve. The two were close; if Loki was in Thor's place, Tony would've done the same.

Tony teleported himself elsewhere, quickly spinning in a circle to identify all the sorcerer frost Jotun. So far, there were only three he could see and so he decided to attack them first, knocking two of them unconscious. He set out to deal with the third giant when he felt a familiar pang in the back of his head. This time, it felt right.

"Loki!" Tony shouted, gripping his gold staff as he shivered in the cold. He darted his eyes back and forth across the scenery before him, trying to spot the sorcerer god. Maybe his brain was playing tricks on him. After all, he still had a bit of the Jotun spell on him.

A flash of green caught his attention and he went after it, praying to himself that it wasn't some trick of the light or something along those lines. As he approached the flash of green, he noticed that it was falling and there was no teleportation occurring at all. Tony jumped into the air and teleported through it, summoning his suit to his body simultaneously. The boots of the suit attached to him first, repulsors flickering to life just as Tony landed under the flash of green and caught it mid air. A wide smile grew on his face at the sight of Loki draped across his arms. The god was unconscious with scratches about his face and his armor was torn and dented, but he was here with Tony and he was alive regardless of the situation.

The rest of the Iron Man suit proceeded to attach to Tony as he flew himself and Loki to the Stark Tower, gently laying the god on an un-iced patch of the roofing. He didn't want Loki to touch the ice. Princess Loki could have been telling the truth about the cold setting off the configuration morph. Frigga said something like that as well. Tony knelt down beside Loki as he took off his helmet, placing it to the side. He brushed a few strands of black hair to the side and let his fingers linger gently on the god's pale and warm face.

Green eyes slowly opened and Tony cheered inwardly, carefully watching the god sit up with a hand on his head. "Is this Midgard?"

"Yup." Tony said quietly, watching that green gaze turn on him. "The Avengers are on it, no worries. I was too, until I saw you falling out of the sky."

"Falling," Loki murmured, turning toward the pitch black sky. "I did this, did I not?"

"Sort of. Princess Loki did to be more accurate, but she is you." Loki nodded with a sigh before climbing to his feet.

"She is me, no one can deny. I learned though why I was opening my magic mind in my sleep. She was mind speaking with my brothers Helblindi and Byleistr to prepare for this attack." Tony paled. "I fear I can no longer be trusted, not as long as she is being manipulated by my siblings."

"I can trust you, Loki, not her." a small smile formed on Loki's lips as he gently shook his head with light laughter. "I'm serious though."

"I know, Tony, I know." they locked eyes and Tony leaned in for a kiss, warmth coursing through his body as Loki accepted it, kissing back.

"I thought I was gonna lose you there for a moment," the brunette whispered against the god's lips, one hand holding one of Loki's own, "but I'm glad you're here. We need your help. Bad."  
"That is why I have come, my dear," Loki gave Tony a chaste kiss before pulling away to take in the scene around him. "We must keep the giants here near the portal. I know how to send them back."

"Then let's get moving."

Loki smirked and left in a swirl of green, Tony sliding his helmet back on before launching himself into the air. He watched the flash of green bounce through the sky and across the sight of the moon, almost like a beacon for the Avengers, alerting them that help had come. Tony landed on the ground a few blocks from Stark Tower and started pushing the giants back, informing the others of the plan through the intercom.

"Yeah, we'll start doing that, but, um, why is Loki killing frost giants?"

"Don't freak out, Clint; he's on our side. Trust me." Tony replied after throwing a kick that stunned a giant. "Ignore him and just get the giants to the portal."

Clint didn't protest anymore and the line went dead as Tony continued to push the giants back. He could feel that Loki was using magic and the feeling of that just warmed him to the core. At one point, Loki teleported beside him, panting slightly as he brushed a strand of hair from his face before turning to Tony.

"Come with me, Stark; there are some giants trying to escape."

Tony nodded without a word and followed Loki, who was sprinting ahead on the ground, teleporting forward every so often as Tony soared up above. Tony could feel the anger buzzing through the god; the frustration and pain and revenge all bundled up inside the little prince. He was so distracted by watching Loki teleport onto roofs and stuff, Tony rammed straight into a frost giant and plummeted toward the ground, catching himself just as the giant swung an arm toward Tony.

The man dodged out of the way and buzzed around the giant, causing it to twist and turn as it tried to catch him. These beasts were quite stupid at times; how the hell was Loki an offspring of two of them? Once the giant fell down with dizziness, Tony found Loki on the roof of a building, fighting off a frost giant. The brunette flew to the god's aid and landed beside him, blasting two rays from the repulsors in his palms as Loki did the same with his magic.

The giant screeched as it stumbled on its feet, red eyes ablaze with anger. Loki turned to Tony and motioned for him to follow, so he did. Loki cast a spell on himself before he jumped off the roof of the building, Tony running to the edge to find the god floating in the air, arms crossed with a classic smirk.

"Well, what are you waiting for? We have two more giants to take care of, Anthony."

Tony laughed and flew down to Loki, who proceeded to lead him to the two giants who were trying to escape the city. The two sorcerers hovered over the Hudson river, Tony gritting his teeth as the giants noticed them and began to approach.

"You have the one on the right, I got the one on the left." Tony told the god, who nodded carefully, hands glowing slight green as he lightly growled at the giant in front of him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Stark," Loki replied, waving a hand. "This flying spell is annoying me, that is all."

"You could just teleport through the air like before." Loki shook his head.

"Teleportation is too exhausting, even with a portal to Ginnungagap open. I fear I would not last long if I do so."

Before Tony could reply, the giant before him swung an arm and Tony dodged it, still hovering over the river with Loki now behind him and the giant still in his sight. Tony called on his magic and sent it through his repulsors, watching rays of crisp blue jut out and strike the giant before the beast could do anything else. The mortal sorcerer could feel Loki's magic and knew the other giant had attacked as well.

"These things are sort of dumb," he said, flying out of the way of an attack to soar around the Jotuns head. "Do you agree?"

"I do, despite them being my kin." Loki shouted back, elegantly evading an attack with the likeness of a snake. "Remember, get them back in the city."

"I'll try my best."

Tony turned toward the city and frowned, flying between the frost giant's legs to appear behind its back. He blasted it forward toward the city but the giant turned much faster than Tony had expected and he just barely dodged a fist, stumbling in the air as he regained balance. When his back bumped against something, Tony almost squealed, thinking he was sandwiched between both Jotuns, but he heard the light hum of magic behind him and calmed down.

"You best watch your back, Stark, even though these beasts are sort of dumb." Loki called to him, both sorcerers still back-to-back above the Hudson.

Tony scowled even though Loki couldn't see it. "Shut up, you."

Loki laughed in response, blasting small bursts of magic from his palms. "I'll watch it for you since you can't."

"Why thanks, I really needed the extra protection."

Tony couldn't hear Loki's reply as he attacked the giant in front of him with a continuous ray from both palms of his red and gold armored hands. This one was a lot tougher than the others he had slain and knocked out. It wouldn't go down, at least not so easily.

"When I think of a fight between family," Tony started, annoyance laced in his electronic voice, "this sure as hell isn't it."

"The larger the beasts, the uglier the fight, my dear," Loki leaned back a bit with a cold smirk, green eyes trained on his frost giant with a look of absolute mercilessness. Tony could hear a cry and figured Loki had hit his mark. "Besides, they deserve this, would you not agree?"

Both men pulled from each other simultaneously and Tony threw a kick, wincing as his leg throbbed after his armored boot smacked the side of the giant's face. The blue beast stumbled on its feet and reached out for Tony with a growl, shouting something Tony couldn't understand. Tony managed to fly away before the beast caught him, but turning to Loki, he grew worried.

The god was wide-eyed and pale, starting into the red eyes of the frost giant he was fighting. That giant was saying something, which Loki didn't seem to like much. The look of shock bestowed on the god's face soon melded into one of anger and disgust and the frost giant only had a split second for a smile to form before Loki showed the beast his boot and how powerful his magic really was.

Tony flew inward toward the city, swerving between buildings as multiple Jotuns saw him and decided to go after him. By the time Tony reached downtown, there were probably five giants coming after him and two of them were sorcerers. He almost got iced to a building on his way to the portal, but luckily for Tony, Loki had just teleported nearby and took the hit instead.

The armored man hovered midair around the portal and then that was when the larger giants started falling from the portal. Three gigantic dirty brown skinned black haired giants donning battle gear crashed to Midgard, striking everything nearby without a care. Four frost giants went down and two buildings were practically destroyed.

New York was getting malled again and they had just barely finished rebuilding the city from Loki's attack!

"Are they with us?" Tony mindspoke to Loki, who he he couldn't see given he didn't know where the sorcerer god was.

"No, those are the mountain Jotun. They love war almost as much as the Asgardians. They are here simply to fight and will kill everything that is not their own." Seeing a flash of green, Tony started flying again, landing on Stark Tower. He landed on the landing pad and walked toward Loki as the machines and robots proceeded to remove the suit, leaving Tony in his Asgardian battle armor. "I thank you for leading the giants toward the portal, Anthony. It will make my job much easier."  
"No problem." Tony smiled slightly, sliding his faceplate up. "Ready when you are."

Loki nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but then shook his head, closing it simultaneously. Tony crinkled his brow but said not a word as the god called on his green magic, the Casket materializing into his hands a split second later. Loki gripped the icy device so hard, his knuckles turned white and Tony noticed Loki's hands were also turning blue.

"Anthony," Loki said, green gaze trained on the portal. Was that a quiver Tony heard in Loki's voice? "You are to stop Ragnarok, correct?"

"Yeah, but it's already here." that sharp green gaze turned on Tony and a sad smile crawled onto the god's lips.

"It may be here, but it is not over yet. You can stop an event while it is happening, Stark. Ragnarok is inevitable as we can see here, but it can be stopped and that too is inevitable." Loki looked down at the device in his hands and let out a deep breath, closing his eyes lightly. "I believe in you, Anthony, do not forget that, understand?"

"Yeah," Tony replied, wondering why Loki was bring all of this up. Blue started to tinge the god's face and when Loki opened his eyes, blood red was staining his green gaze as he looked over at Tony. "The configuration morph."

"It is actually a shapeshift, but it can very well turn into a morph if I do not shapeshift with caution." the sorcerer turned the Casket toward the portal and the device started to glow brighter, wisps of white twirling around the god's blue hands. "This will send all the frost giants back to Jotunheim where Odin and much of the Asgardian guards are. When I say it will send all of the Jotuns to Jotuheim, myself is included. If I do not come back from this, know that I love you."  
"Wait, what?"

Tony blanched as he reached out toward Loki, but the god had already started whatever spell he needed to cast, a ray of white striking the portal.

"Jotunheim koma heim," Loki hissed, squeezing the Casket tighter, "Skipta lothungr!"

With his last two words, Loki was gone in a flash of rainbow and every other frost giant left Midgard in a similar manner. All that was left was a mountain giant, but the Hulk was fighting off that beast himself. The portal was closed and the icy winter was still about as the moon sent crisp white rays of light down on the destroyed city. Tony gazed out upon New York with a sigh, rubbing his face with both hands. He didn't move as he heard people behind him, feeling the familiar hum of Thor's magic.

"What happened?" Clint asked as Tony turned to face the group. Thor looked pretty beat up, but other than that, he looked fine. Steve had cuts and gashes across his face and suit, Natasha's hair was a little ruffled up and Clint just had a couple bleeding wounds that had been bandaged.

"Loki closed up the portal and sent all the Jotun's back home." Thor's eyes widened at Tony's words as he paled. "What's up, Thunderer?"

"My brother may have died casting such a spell."

Tony froze, eyes trained on the blonde god. "What do you mean?"

"In order to send the giants home with the Casket, one must use Blood Magic. It is the actual blood from one of royalty that makes the Casket work, not just the presence of royalty, Anthony. Loki had to use much of his blood in order to activate the device and send the giants to Jotunheim. Also, he had to use much blood to activate the device and send them here."

"So, Loki did bring the giants here." Steve growled angrily, grip on his shield tightening. "I assume that means we can expect more villains soon enough."

"Princess Loki brought them here, not Loki. He wouldn't do that." Tony pointed out, watching all the Avengers turn toward him with various looks that basically said 'have-you-fallen-off-the-rocker-now-Tony'.

"Guys," the group of five turned and found Bruce running toward them wearing a baggy shirt and torn pants. "The other guy recalls saving Tony and he was using magic or something like that. Is that true, or is the other guy having hallucinations now?"

Tony then proceeded to explain the whole thing to the Avengers, every single detail about every single thing from the arc reactor blowouts to Loki sending the Jotuns back to Jotunheim. By the time he was finished, the Avengers were inside the tower in the main room, Tony filling an unbroken shot glass with scotch.

"And so yeah, that is what's been happening these past couple months." Tony downed the drink and placed the cup down with a sigh. "Feel free to comment as you please."

"How come you never told any of us sooner?" Steve exclaimed, still in shock about Tony having magic.

"Loki was my teacher, Steve. Do you honestly think you would've done nothing knowing that?" Steve frowned, having nothing to say to that. "It had to be kept secret to keep both him and myself safe. Now the secret is out and all I have to do is stop Ragnarok. Continue doing what you guys do, okay? This doesn't have to change a thing."

"But it does, Tony." Bruce tagged on. "You've been using magic and you've been hanging out with Loki for just as long. How can we know to trust you?"

"You can't. But Asgard trusts me, Vanaheim trusts me, Alfheim trusts me, hell, even Loki trusts me with his bipolar ass. Everything under the sun trusts me and believes that I can and will stop the world from ending. They trusted Loki to teach me well, which he has done, and trusted me not to abuse my awesome powers. You don't have to trust me if you don't want to; I'll understand why. But just know that you'll be one of the few people who don't for I have no reason to betray any of you when we all have the same goal in mind."

Tony sighed after his words, waving a hand in dismissal. He really didn't want to talk anymore; he was mostly worried about Loki since apparently sending the Jotun's home resulted in his possible death. And by the look of things, Loki knew that himself when he cast the spell.

"Anthony, I think it would be best to report the recent happenings to Odin in Asgard. He will wish to know that the frost giants have attacked Midgard in such a manner."

Tony nodded at Thor's words and gave his fellow Avengers an acknowledged nod before teleporting himself over to the throne room in Asgard. It was practically empty with the exception of Frigga, Fulla and Gna talking amongst themselves. At the arrival of Tony, the three women ceased their speech and Frigga walked toward him, a look of concern on her dainty face.

"Did you find him?" she asked, grabbing the mortal sorcerer's hands.

"Yeah, I did. I found him and he sent the Jotuns back home." Frigga sighed happily, turning to face Gna, who smile joyfully and Fulla, who merely lightened her glare. "The giants attacked Midgard and started Ragnarok. I can only expect an influx of villains from here on out."

"Yes, we have heard such news across the nine worlds. Ymir has left Jotunheim and is currently attacking Alfheim as he tries to reach Thor." Gna walked toward Frigga and Tony as she spoke. "Eir and Hlin are currently in the midst of an Asgardian battle between the gods and the dark elves of Svartalfheim."

"Malekith and Kurse have come out from hiding?" Frigga paled slightly, a hand at her mouth. "This is not good at all. It is wise of them to come out and attack while the worlds are in turmoil, but it is not good news for us." the blonde queen turned to Tony. "You fought only the Jotuns, correct?"

"Yeah. Why'd you ask?"

"Amora and her sister may be approaching then. Amora will go for Thor with Ymir and as for Lorelei, she may follow her sister or go to Jotunheim to retrieve Loki." the queen touched Tony's arm and closed her eyes, strands of sparkly gold seeping from Tony's arm.

"Wait, what are you doing? I don't my magic back." Tony exclaimed, pulling away from Frigga, who only tightened her grip on his arm.

"You do have your magic back, Stark, Loki gave it to you." she hissed, releasing Tony from her grip with a frown. "I was correct about the Jotuns having the magic. I did not know that Loki herself had cast the spell. How I know not, given that Loki had not gone into her configuration since our talk."

"Actually, Loki's been going into his Jotun configuration during his sleep for two weeks now. And, uh, we fell asleep back in Vanaheim." Tony couldn't help but blush as his mind thought back to what had transpired between himself and Loki earlier. To make it worse, Frigga was there and she had this look in her eyes that said she understood what Tony meant.

"She may have cast the spell then." Frigga patted Tony's arm with a motherly smile and that just made his face heat up even more. "When Loki comes back to us, we may be able to cast a spell that will keep him from morphing for a few days."

"I don't know if he's coming back to us. He's not dead, we would all know if he was dead, but he told me he might not come back." Tony's face fell slightly at his words. "He also told me he-!"

Tony abruptly cut himself off as blackness over came his vision and the sweet welcome scent of someone familiar overcame his senses. An uncontrollable smile twitched onto Tony's lips as he felt the warm breath against his ear, the calm whisper of 'guess who' ringing in his ears.

"Oh, I don't know, you might be the god I've so helplessly fallen for, what do you think?"

"I think I like that answer."

Tony laughed and gently pulled the cool hands from his face, turning to face Loki, who was smirking down at him, green eyes aglow against his pale scratched up face. With a shake of his head, Tony leaned up and gently pressed his lips to the god's own, fingers twined between them as Loki kissed back, a smile on his lips.

"You came back after all." Tony raised an eyebrow once they pulled away.

"I was worried I wouldn't, hence why I told you I might not return to you. Luckily, Odin recognized me before he attacked and I managed to escape." Loki's green gaze turned to Frigga as he pulled away from Tony. "Ymir and Amora are approaching Midgard and I felt interesting long stowed away magic once I arrived in Asgard. I question the presence of this form of elf magic."

"Malekith and Kurse have risen with the dark elves. They are attacking Asgard as we speak. Have you heard anything about Lorelei?" Loki shook his head and stiffened as Frigga hugged him. "I was so scared, Loki."

Loki's eyes closed as he slowly wrapped his arms around Frigga's neck, nestling his face in the crook of her neck. "I know and so was I. Knowing you had no magic frightened me. I am pleased to see you are well."

Tony smiled at the family moment and moved to leave the two to their own personal business, only to be yanked into the hug himself by Frigga. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around the two and closed his eyes with a smile after Loki pressed a kiss to the top of his head. It was totally the wrong time to be in such a cheery mood, given the wars raging throughout the nine, but they all knew they had to find all the happiness they could in all the little things.

"Loki," the god pulled away from the two and turned to face the speaker, eyes slightly narrowed as a frown marred his lips. "Fulla," Loki replied, voice bitter and hard. The goddess walked toward Loki with sad blue eyes, grabbing his hands once she was close enough.

"I know I have not been the best to you in our past, but I wish to reconcile our differences if you would allow it." the two locked eyes and Tony noticed Loki looked a _lot_ like Fulla even though they were not biologically related. "You have taught Anthony well and I can see that I have-"

The woman was cut off as Loki pulled her into a hug, holding her to his chest as he squeezed lightly. "You are forgiven, Fulla. We have nothing left to disagree about for we have bigger issues to worry about at this time. Besides, you were not the only one in the wrong, my dear."

Fulla's eyes went wide before she hugged him back, burying her face into his armor. Tony smiled lightly and turned to Frigga when she whispered his name.

"Tell me, were you telling the truth when you told Odin you know how to kill Loki?"

Tony nodded with a serious look. "I told the truth. I do know to kill Loki and I think he knows I know how to kill him, too."

"Tell me how to do so then." the mortal sorcerer crinkled his brow with slight shock. "We all need to be prepared, Anthony. Loki is dangerous and it pains me to ask for such information as this, but it is necessary."

Tony turned to let his gaze turn on Loki and Fulla, who were now talking with Gna. Loki turned to face Tony with a soft smile, green eyes glowing and entire being metaphorically lighting Tony up before he turned back to the conversation between himself, Fulla, and Gna. A pang went through the man's chest as he took in Frigga's words. He didn't want to share such information, but he knew it was necessary. Loki _was_ dangerous and he was _always_ dangerous from the start of this whole mess. And now that Ragnarok was here, destinies would be fulfilled and the one they needed to stop the most was Loki's.

"Alright," Tony muttered, turning to lock eyes with the Asgard queen. "I hope you and I will never have to do it. Actually, I hope no one at all will have to do it, but I know it's for the greater good if you know how to kill Loki, so let me tell how to kill the god of fire."

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A/N: So, Frigga knows how to kill Loki. Hmm, I wonder will happen now that she knows how to kill Loki. Also, Ragnarok is here! The end is nigh! From here on out, there will be quite a few fight scenes, so prepare yourself. :D Thanks so much for the reviews, faves and follows. It's really encouraging and very much appreciated! Until next time, my readers!~


	14. Love on A Battlefield

A/N: My sister is sort of my beta reader for this story and I'm so worried about this chapter because while reading it she was like "um, why is Tony so weak? He's super OOC and weak. You're writing him like a damsel in distress" and now I'm like "OH NO WHAT HAVE I DONE" because I don't think I've done that but who knows; I'm the one writing the story and Tony doesn't seem too OOC or weak to me!

Also, there's some inconsistency with the names of the Jotunheim frost giants in this story. From here on out, the frost giants are called _frost jotuns_ and the mountain jotuns are called _mountain giants_.

One more thing, as of this chapter, this story is 110,723 words long and around 243 pages long!

* * *

**Of Asgardian Blood Chapter 14:** _Love on A Battlefield_

Rating: T+/M (for violence and stuff happens, but mostly for violence)

Length: 13,529 (longest yet, so sorry about the length (I was paranoid about damsel-in-distress!Tony), no more chapters will be this long!)

Pairing(s): Tony/Loki

Chapter Summary: Tony turned to Frigga, who was on her knees clutching her shaking hands, blood coating her fingers. She turned to look up at Tony with a sad smile, her voice quivering as she spoke. "It is done. We can return to Asgard now."

* * *

A soft warmth dressed Tony as he curled up against it, eyes gently closed as his mind and body slowly eased him from his sleep. As his brown eyes opened, he felt a calm breath against his neck and it brought an unusual happy smile to his face. Tony let his hands lightly cover the larger ones against his body and the welcome touch sent delicious happy shivers down his spine.

As the memories of the night before flooding his head, Tony gently twisted in the vice like arms, coming face to face with the other man, who was still asleep. Tony had seen him sleep many times before, but this time was much different. This time it was much more personal and intimate and he liked that about it. He liked the sense of security in his lover's arms. He liked the way their bodies pressed up against each other like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and he wouldn't want it any other way.

Tony let his eyes rake over the sleeping sorcerer's face, taking in the little details of how his eyes were lightly closed and there was a faint shadow of a smile on those pink lips. The strands of curly black hair that fell in waves down the god's head, a few loose ones framing his gorgeous pale face. A small sniffle midst sleep before those devilish lips part slightly for air. The slight flutter of his long lashes as his nose scrunches up in the most adorable way. The childlike innocence framing Loki as he slept, making him look like a completely new person even though Tony knew this god was still his bipolar psychopathic boyfriend (or something along those lines).

Today was a good day of sleep. On bad days, Loki would curl up against himself and scowl as if having a nightmare. He would be still and frozen as if lost in time and confused about whether or not he could move in the first place. Tony moved when he had nightmares. He flailed around and woke up gasping with the sheets and blankets tangled between his legs and himself a sweaty mess. Loki simply opened his eyes and stared into space without a single sound. It was sort of creepy the first time Tony saw that.

But anyway, today was a good day of sleep and that meant Tony had a happy Loki on his hands until something happened that would piss the god off. Tony sighed a bit, scratching at his beard (man, he needed to shave) as a yawn passed through him. Loki's arms pulled Tony closer against his paler-than-usual body and Tony didn't protest as the god cradled him against his taller body.

Loki had lost a lot of blood last night with that Blood Magic shit he performed to send the Jotuns away. After the whole family reunion, Frigga sent Tony and Loki off to bed to retire for the night and get some rest. The room they were in was laced with magic that would keep Loki from morphing configurations during sleep. It seemed to work, although how would Tony know given that he was sleeping in the same bed as Loki for two weeks and had no idea the god was morphing in his sleep.

Tony raised a hand to brush black hair from Loki's face, letting his rough fingers graze the god's soft cheek as he pushed the hair to the side. Green eyes flickered open at the contact and Tony found himself entranced by their emerald green gaze, a loving smile pulling onto his own lips.

"Good mornin'," Tony cooed, cupping the god's face before he leaned in for a received kiss. "Did you open Ginnungagap?"

"No, if I had done so, my magic would be in your reactor." Loki's soft breath brushed over Tony's lips before they kissed once more. The god pulled Tony closer and the man himself flushed slightly at the skin-on-skin contact.

"So, the magic in this room works." he whispered lightly, feeling Loki's affirmative hum.

"Indeed." the god's hand trailed down beneath the blankets. "Ah, imbalanced magic, Stark?"

"Ha, I wish. That's all because of you, babe."

"Oh realy? Well, since I seem to have brought about this problem of yours, why don't I help you get rid of it?"

Tony grinned at the green-eyed god's words. "Your help would be very much appreciated I must admit."

Loki laughed lightly before he closed the gap between their lips and proceeded to do as he said he would.

"Anthony," he panted against Tony's mouth, their sweaty foreheads pressed together as they came down from their high. Loki's hands gripped Tony's hips and Tony's arms wrapped around Loki's neck, his eyes closed as he also panted.

"Yeah?" Tony acknowledged his name, brown eyes opening slightly to give Loki a glance. The sorcerer god still had his eyes closed as well, his back against the pillows and back bed frame of the bed as Tony straddled him.

"We should return to the battlefield," green eyes opened as Loki's pale hands trailed up Tony's chest. "No matter how much I may prefer to be here, you have a task to complete, do you not?"

"Don't remind me," Tony groaned unhappily. "Plus, you're still injured."

"Yes," Loki replied in a whisper tone, his eyes locked on Tony's own, "but I am healing and will be able to fight. Ragnarok is here, minn lothungr; we have not the time for such pleasantries as this."

"What did you just call me?"

Loki frowned as he through back to what he had said, palms splayed across Tony's chest. Tony ran his fingers up and down Loki's arms, letting his eyes trace the scars that littered the god's body. He itched to ask about them, but feared upsetting Loki and making the god do something foolish. He also didn't want to ruin the moment.

"I called you my prince; _minn lothungr_." Loki's voice was soft and gentle. "It is an endearment such as 'babe' or 'sweetheart'."

"It makes sense. You are a princess, Princess." Tony grinned as Loki gave him a glare and slowly pushed Tony back, the man falling onto his back against the mattress and Loki coming down with him. "I like it though. Being your prince in shiny knight armor."

"Of course you do," Loki shook his head with amusement, hands on either side of Tony's head as the man kept his arms around Loki's neck. "You can put the armor to use and go out to Jotunheim to help Sif and the Warriors Three."

Before Tony could reply, Loki kissed him hotly, passion coursing through his body as the god let slip a soft moan. "Wait, why Jotunheim?" Tony asked when they pulled apart. "You can't come with me there; it's too cold. We could go to Midgard and help out SHIELD and the Avengers."

"I am not a welcome guest for SHIELD or the Avengers, Anthony. Also, Midgard is an icy world now similar to Jotunheim. If Jotunheim is too cold, so is your home land." the raven-haired god pressed his lips to Tony's forehead as Tony let his hands trail down the pale god's back. "Alfheim would work. Sigyn and Asta are there fighting the mountain giants."

Tony froze and his eye twitched at the sound of those names from Loki's lips. It had only been about a day or so since Tony met the two woman, but boy did Tony feel so possessive hearing Loki mutter the names of two of his previous lovers.

"Sigyn and Asta fighting in the same world?" Loki nodded silently, a hopefully look in his eyes as he stared down at Tony. "And you want to help them."

"Yes, Anthony, they are my friends. My friends-in-arms as well. They need our help and since we will not go to Jotunheim or Midgard, we can help Freyr and them in Alfheim." Tony snorted, looking off to the side. "Stark, look at me."

Tony reluctantly turned his gaze back on Loki, watching the god raise a hand to carefully brush a strand of brown hair from the man's face. Tony managed to glare at Loki, who sighed with a roll of the eyes.

"Look," Tony started, lightening his glare, "it's cool and all that you want to go save your friends 'cause I want to do the same, but Sigyn and Asta-"

"Used to have the spot in my heart that you currently have?" Tony scowled slightly as Loki grinned. "Jealous much, Stark? There is no need to worry though; I am with you now and I plan on it being that way for as long as possible. Sigyn and Asta know of us and they know better than to come between us even though they may want me back."

"You're such a fucking tease, do you know that?" Tony commented, raising an eyebrow as one of hands tangled in Loki's curly long hair.

"Oh, I know. Being one is the only way I could ever get on your radar." Tony gave Loki a look and the god laughed aloud, leaning down to brush his lips against Tony's forehead. "So, Alfheim it is."

"Hey, I never said that was a go. We could stay here in Asgard with Odin and Thor and fight off the dark elves." Loki tensed at that. The fire god still wasn't keen on fighting along side his father and brother once more. "Or Vanaheim where Freya is."

"I should cease to endanger myself by placing myself in situation where I may morph configurations. Frost Jotuns are currently attack Vanaheim." Loki's voice was stiff and chilly. "Wherever Thor goes, Ymir will as well. So will Amora. While Thor is in Asgard, Ymir will travel through Alfheim to approach him. We must stop him where he stands, Stark."

"Ymir is a frost Jotun, dude, one of your ancestors. Like one of the first frost Jotuns ever. Get anywhere near him and you will morph." the romantic mood was shattered for sure. Now, it felt sort of awkward and intimidating to be pinned naked beneath an equally nude Loki. "We have to stay away from the frost Jotuns like you've said. I know you want to help your friends, but what about your safety?"

"I do what I want, Stark," Loki snapped, piercing green eyes glued on Tony beneath him, "and I want to go to Alfheim and stop Ymir from trying to kill my brother!"

Loki's voice cracked just a bit on his last word, teeth bared in a slight snarl as his eyes stayed locked on Tony's. Tony's hands slowly left Loki's cool body as the god say up, a hand at his face as he carelessly leaned against the headboard of the bed. Tony gazed up at the ceiling, wondering why Loki had presented going to Alfheim as going to help his ex's, not trying to help protect Thor.

Tony sat up as well, feeling Loki's magic as the god cast a cleaning and dressing spell on himself. The god's traditional armor donned him and green swirls gelled back his long black hair. Tony cast the same spell, dressed in his blue Asgardian armor with gelled tips to his hair and a freshly trimmed beard as he watched his aggravated lover. "Loki, all you had to say was-"

"Shut your mouth," Oh boy, Loki was now in a pissy mood, "I wish not to hear anymore of your chatter."

"Alright then. You won't."

Loki quickly turned his head to give Tony a look and Tony leaned forward on his hands and knees, taking Loki's bottom lip with own lips. Loki started to protest, pushing the brunette away, but Tony merely leaned forward for more, deepening the second kiss he pressed to the god's mouth.

One of Loki's legs slowly bent up at the knee between Tony's spread legs as the god continued to try to pull away, murmuring little words in Old Norse between long sultry kisses.

"Stark," Loki mumbled, sliding down onto his back as Tony hovered over him with raised eyebrows, "Ragnaork-"

Tony cut the frazzled god off with a multitude of kisses and pulled away with a determined look on his face. "What happened to not letting Ragnarok get between us, Loki? I'm not talking just about our sexual relationship here."

Loki closed his eyes with understanding as he nodded, hands at Tony's chest once more. "I'm sorry."

If Tony didn't already know the end of the world was currently happening, hearing that phrase from Loki's lips confirmed the end of the world occurring. Loki apologizing was a first, especially for something so menial. Well, menial compared to Ragnarok. To be honest, this relationship with Loki was a big deal for Tony. He never expected to fall in love during all of this shit, let alone with his supposed enemy who he started off wanting to kill (although his urges to kill Loki were never large enough that he would actually do so on a whim). Now, he was pursuing a (somewhat) stable relationship with the god and yes, that was a big deal. The only other (somewhat) stable relationship Tony jumped into was with Pepper.

(Pepper would so kill Tony if she found out about Tony and Loki. She'd probably kill Loki as well so Tony would be happy in the afterlife.)

This relationship with Loki was not small beans and he couldn't go about it like it was menial. He was playing with fire here; messing around with a god who was so emotional and bipolar it was scary and threatening. Loki was no random chick; he was a god who would so very easily turn on everyone and everything at the drop of a hat and Tony was the lucky man who had to keep him in check.

(Lucky man may or may not be sarcastic; after all, being with Loki had tons of benefits.)

Also, as the predestined harbinger of Ragnarok and the final battles of Vigrid, Loki was even more dangerous and flighty. Tony was risking his life here.

_Have you heard the legends of the Midgardian Sorcerer? He dies in the end! He always dies at the end!_

"Don't apologize; there's nothing to be sorry about, Princess."

Tony kissed Loki's brow before kissing his nose and cheek. His lips trailed down to Loki's neck, the god turning his head to the side as Tony kissed him compassionately, taking in the sweet wintery scent of the Aesir god. Tony kept muttering 'don't be sorry' into Loki's skin until the god grabbed Tony's face and leaned up to roughly kiss him, tangling fingers in the brunette's dressed hair.

Teeth clashed and tongues twined as both sorcerers clambered toward each other as if in heat. Tony gasped into the god's mouth and prepared to dive his hand down Loki's pants before the door opened.

Tony pulled away from Loki's zipper, both their eyes closed as they pressed foreheads together, still panting from their previous heavy petting and rutting. Loki turned to the door with a raised eyebrow and Tony rolled off the god with mumble of 'cockblocker' to himself that Loki snickered at.

"Frigga," Loki coughed out, still on his back against the mattress. "I assume you have come here for more than a morning's greeting."

"Indeed I have, but it seems you two are a bit busy." Tony looked over toward the door to spot Frigga there with a poker face, her cheeks tinged red. "I will leave you to your business then."

"It was nothing, Frigga; just knock next time. Either that or we'll put a tie on the doorknob." Both Loki and Frigga turned to Tony with equally confused looks. "It's a Midgard thing. So, what's the news?"

"As the most powerful sorcerer besides Odin himself, Loki, and in turn you, Anthony, need to return to the battlefield. I plan on casting a spell on Loki that will keep him from changing configuration for a few days, but the spell requires old magic and the oldest source of Ginnungagap available to us. I am strong, but not strong enough to maintain my magic while casting such a spell. Loki, you will have to help."

"I will gladly help to accomplish such a task, Frigga." Tony didn't miss the sad look in the queen's eyes as Loki called her Frigga. "Where is it we must go?"

"Niflheim. It is conveniently the origin of the Jotunheim frost Jotuns, which is the configuration we wish the shelter for a period of time. That will make the spell easier to cast, energy and amount of magic wise, but it may make it harder for the spell to actually stay upon you, Loki." Frigga's concerned eyes stayed on Loki. "You know the effects of old magic, correct?"

"Yes."

"Wait, what's old magic and how come I've never heard of it until now? Is it a new form of magic?"

"No, it is neither a form nor a type of magic. Old magic is found in the first two worlds of this univers: Niflheim and Muspellheim. It is called old magic because it is the oldest form of magic alive. No one uses it but the creatures born in those two worlds. In fact, Jotun magic is a direct descent of it, a variation so to speak. "Tony nodded at Loki's explanation. "Barely anyone can us it, hence the lack of usage or knowledge of it. It is very powerful and very inefficient and composes the oldest source of Ginnungagap in the nine. It is not a form or type of magic; it is more accurately a generalized source.

"Frigga has her magic and I have my own. Our magic is simply our magic. We can use different forms, for me at least, and many different types, but under all of that, it is still our magic. Old magic is the equivalent. Everyone born in Niflheim and Muspellheim has old magic like how everyone in Asgard has Aesir magic. The difference that makes it not a form of magic like Aesir is? Everyone's magic is the same. Same elskath, same trace, same magic mind. Same everything because it is the equivalent of someone's individual magic. There is no individualization whatsoever and the magic is so powerful that the beasts born in those two lands are very large and emit old magic by the second. If anyone outside those worlds tried to exchange their personal magic for old magic, they would live to a very painful death a few hours later."

"Death? But what if your elskath is the same as the elskath of old magic?"

"You would still die, just not as soon." Frigga tagged on. "Old magic to the other worlds is Dark Magic. To the beasts of Niflheim and Muspellheim, it is like Aesir magic to an Aesir. There is such a thing as Muspell magic, which only the fire jotnar of Muspellheim carry. It is more similar to Vanir magic than it is to old magic or a different form of magic, but only the fire jotnar use it." Frigga turned to Loki. "I will not exchange my magic for old magic, doing so will kill me, bit I will call on old Ginnungagap for fuel and essentially perform Dark Magic."

"What?" Tony exclaimed, horror striking his face. "You're gonna use Dark Magic on Loki to lock down Princess Loki?"

"_We_ are going to use Dark Magic on myself to cease configuration morphs." the two sorcerers locked eyes, serious green against flabbergasted brown. "It is a small price to pay, Anthony. Frigga and I will cast spells to hide the taint on our magic traces once done. You on the other hand will not intervene."

"I don't think I'd want to."

"Good." Loki climbed off the bed and straightened his clothing, using a spell to gel back his ruffled hair. "We should hurry before something more important comes our way."

"Ragnarok is already here."

"This is more important to be honest. This will determine whether I take my role in Ragnarok or not." Tony nodded with understanding and took the hand offered to him. "No matter what, do _not_ interfere."

"I promise I won't. I don't want my magic tainted and I do not want to perform Dark Magic."

"It is not that I worry about." Loki's eyes gave Frigga a quick glance before he turned back to Tony. "It is watching me in agonizing pain I worry about your reaction to."

Tony paled slightly but said not a word as Loki and Frigga cast their teleportation spells and the three landed in the middle of nowhere. Or so it looked. Frosty air struck the three and Loki immediately turned blue, eyes still green though as the chilly wind passed. Frigga and Tony both paled from the cold, the brunette bundling up against himself to warm up.

It was a barren wasteland of frozen lakes and rivers and plenty of ice. Tony didn't like it and he found himself giving Loki glances every so often until the god rolled his eyes and gently smacked the back of Tony's head.

"There is no need to fret. It is cold in Niflheim, but it is not the correct temperature for a natural morph." Loki's green eyes overlooked the valley of ice and snow before the three. "Is there somewhere specific we must be in order to cast this spell?"

"No, but we must be out of hunting range for the bilgesnipes." Frigga summoned a staff and held it close as they trekked. "Alert me if you feel any. You are closer to Niflheim origins than I am."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"I have a better connection to the land than you or Frigga. One advantage of being a Jotunheim frost Jotun." Loki explained, creating an orange flickering flame in his palm. It gave his blue skin a golden tint and lit up his green eyes. "It is the motherland of the frost Jotuns after all."

"I still question how a frost Jotun is the god of ice. Ice and fire aren't necessarily best buds."

"True. The question to my origins is still a mystery. Perhaps I am the embodiment of fire because my mother could've been fire jotnar." Tony raised an eyebrow at that. "Perhaps I am the embodiment of fire because I was conceived by a strike of lightning to Laufey."

"Is male pregnancy a family trait or something?"

"I do have a mother like you." Loki snorted. "Laufey may have birthed me, I will never know since he is dead, but my mother was Farbauti, which means striking lightning in Old Norse. She is also dead, but was not called the queen of Jotunheim even though she technically was, being married to Laufey and all. I have heard that she was the one who struck down her husband with lightning in an attempt to kill him and instead of taking his life, they gave birth to one: yours truly. I have also heard that Laufey was struck with lightning during the Asgard-Jotunheim war and out popped little me. One more rumor was that my parents were shapeshifters and one of their kinks was to switch genders. There is no need for me to explain the rest on that matter."

"You are a product of frost Jotun and lightning. So, are you Thor's kid?" That earned a sharp glare from Loki.

"Of course not, you imbecile. Thor was just barely the mortal age of three at my birth. He had yet to embody thunder and control it with Mjolnir." A contemplative look overcame Loki's face. "It may explain why were were so close as if biological siblings. It may also explain why the bond spontaneously returned. Me, a product of lightning and royal Jotunheim blood. Thor, the welder and embodiment of lightning itself."

"I still can't get over the fact that you were born of lightning. You just get more entertaining and interesting everyday, lightning boy." Tony sent Loki a grin before a loud roar sent everyone silent. "What the hell?"

"Bilgesnipe." Loki hissed, an orb of green magic glowing in his non-flame-holding hand. "I suggest we get into hiding as best we can. The bilgesnipes will be aggravated with Ragnarok about."

The sorcerer god ushered Tony and Frigga to the side, green eyes staring forward as the three strode sideways toward an ice cave. Another scratchy roar boomed over the land and Tony could hear footsteps and the cracking of frozen water. Loki grit his teeth and extinguished his fire by closing his fist.

"Stay in the shadows or it will see you." Loki murmured, pulling Tony closer to him. The sounds of stepping continued to echo through the land, more cracking coming closer as well.

That's when Tony saw the shadow of the beast, a tall wide thick scaled monster that turned the corner around the hidden ice cave the three were hiding in. Reptilian yellow brown eyes scanned the ice and the Jotun brown antlers of the beast hovered over the land, giving the monster more height. Scaled stumpy legs walked forward, leading the beast right past the entrance to the cave. Tony kept his eyes on the bilgesnipe, watching snow land and collect on the rough back of the beast. It looked a lot like a giant hairy brown furred elephant thing with antlers and a thick horned tail and all around something no one would want to mess with.

The bilgesnipe suddenly stopped, its tail in front of the entrance to the cave. Loki pulled Frigga and Loki back, a snarl on his lips as the tail of the bilgesnipe ceased to move. The sound of something else from behind them startled all three, knocking Frigga to the snow covered ice when Tony accidentally hit her with a shudder and Loki just toppled into a column that promptly broke on impact.

The sorcerer god rolled on the ground as he struggled to his feet, only for the ground of the cavern to give out beneath the god and Tony to reach out toward him, the tips of their fingers brushing before Loki fell through the ice, the rest of the cave toppling down. Tony grabbed Frigga and teleported her out of the way, finding her unconscious with a bleeding head wound. The roar of the bilgesnipe blasted through the air as the beast turned toward Tony and Frigga, its tail swiping at the ice wreckage Loki was trapped in.

Tony gathered Frigga in his arms and started teleporting across the ice as he ran, panting with exhaustion. His magic wasn't coming back to him at all, it just disappeared and sizzled to a crisp in the old magic laced air. That was not good, not good at all. Tony stopped teleporting and just ran across the ice, trying to find someplace he could hide. The bilgesnipe was running right behind him, catching up to his pace in only a few running strides.

The beast let out an ear-splitting screech as it leapt over Tony and Frigga and skidded across the ice, teeth bared as it blocked Tony's way. The man came to a stop himself, panting heavily as he carried the queen of Asgard in his arms. There was no way possible he was going to be able to teleport Frigga and him back to safety or stay here and heal her. The bilgesnipe locked eyes with Tony, snorting as it snarled at the two, tail swishing eagerly before it roared, a blast of air coming from its mouth that blew Tony's hair back and jostled him slightly.

Tony gathered his remaining magic and prepared to send at least Frigga back to Asgard, completing the calculations in his head as he shivered and his arms grew tired. Just before he could cast the spell, a large screech came from behind him and Tony looked up as another bilgesnipe soared through the air above him, landing on the first bilgesnipe with a growl. The first bilgesnipe kicked the second one to the side and the second one slide across the ice, digging claws into the ice to steady itself. The second bilgesnipe turned bright green eyes on Tony and the man's eyes widened with realization just as the newly arrived black-haired bilgesnipe launched an attack toward the brown haired one.

Tony spent his magic on Frigga, healing her with everything he knew as the bilgesnipes fought, screams, snarls and cries echoing in the land. Frigga awoke after Tony's last spell, a hand at her chest as she slipped from his arms, landing on her feet shakily.

"What has happened?" she asked before turning to the bilgesnipe fight. "Anthony, we must go now. Bilgesnipes fight to death for their prey and whoever wins will kill us as well."

"We have to help him then." Tony stated, locking eyes with the queen. She turned to him with confusion, the snow laced wind blowing her blonde hair astray. "Loki's the other one, Frigga. He shapeshifted into a bilgesnipe to distract the brown one and let me heal you. I don't think I have enough magic to help him myself."

"I need to save my magic for casting the spell, Stark. I can not waste it on this," Frigga bit her bottom lip as a sad frown marred her lips. Tony could see how much it pained her to not help Loki and leave him to fend for himself, but he understood why. Tony could only hope that Loki was strong enough to defeat the other beast. "If I use it now, I will not be able to cast the spell later and Princess Loki may come out. Loki must win without our help."

Tony gritted his teeth angrily, unwilling to watch Loki exchange bites and charges with a beast that wanted to kill him. The shapeshifted god rammed his antlers with the other bilgesnipe's own, both beasts snarling at each other until the brown one tossed Loki to the side. Loki clambered to his feet and leaped at the brown bilgesnipe, knocking both creatures onto the ice. The ice cracked under the weight and Tony and Frigga locked eyes as the cracks in the ice came closer to them.

Loki, who was on top of the brown bilgesnipe, struggled to his feet and let out a horrible cry as the brown bilgesnipe bit his leg, the ice splitting beneath the two even more. Tony cried out as well, running toward the fallen god as the ice continued to crack. He summoned his magic and a long sword, blacking out for barely a second as he ran across the ice, jumping over the widening cracks as he approached Loki, who was clawing at the edge of a newly created ravine in the ice. The brown bilgesnipe had fallen into the ravine, but Loki was trying to climb his way up as the cracks deepened and ice continued to split.

Tony stopped a few hundred feet away as a large crack before him widened and he almost fell in. Loki managed to get onto his feet and he started to run toward Tony and Frigga, his form growing smaller and smaller until it was an armor wearing Loki running toward the two who then passed out on the way, green eyes rolling to the back of his head as he slumped to the ground. Tony used what little magic he had to teleport to Loki and take him in his arms, running across the breaking ice back to Frigga.

The three ran as fast as they could as the cracking ice followed them. Wind and snow burned against Tony's face but he paid it no mind as Frigga alerted him of a small nook they could slip into and only prayed that the cracking ice didn't reach them. Frigga used as little of her magic as possible and teleported them there, Tony placing Loki on the ice. The god stirred lightly, opening blood red eyes that looked up at Tony with confusion.

"Princess Loki." Tony spat, glaring down at the woman on the ice. It was definitely Princess Loki not just because of the eyes, but because of the softness of her face and the change in her body frame. The morph must have occurred when Loki was in Tony's arms. "You're not wanted right now."

"I can see by the way you are staring daggers at me, Tony." she said slowly, a hand at her chest. "I feel like I just fought a bilgesnipe; what happened?"

"Exactly that." Tony growled, watching Frigga summon her magic. "Look, Loki is needed right now, so could you morph back into him for me?"

"Why are you in Niflheim? I can feel the old magic against my skin." the woman started to sit up, but Tony pushed her back down angrily, watching that red gaze turn on him. "What now?"

"Stay down and morph configurations, Jotun." he spat, watching her eyes widen before narrowing dangerously.

"You do not have the right to-!"

Tony shut her up with an unforgiving punch to the face, her head turning right as she black out. Frigga let out a cry of horror, eyes wide as she turned to Tony with confusion.

"Stark, what was that for?"

"When Loki goes to sleep, he morphs configurations." he replied, standing up with crossed arms. "When she wakes, she will be a he. I have no trouble socking her in the face; I'm not in love with her."

"You are. The bond never changes with a configuration morph. The feelings for her though are fake, not real like the ones for Loki."

"_Munuth_. Yeah, Loki's told me about those." the two went silent as the sounds of cracking ice ceased and they waited for Loki to waken. "Did you know this would happen?"

Frigga looked over at Tony from looking down at Loki's limp form. "What would happen?"

"That Loki and I would, you know, fall in love and all that good stuff. You can see the future, too."

"Yes, I use seer magic myself, but I never look too far into the future. The most I saw between you two was a mutual friendship. Seeing the future of a mortal is difficult and I had more important things to worry about. I knew my son was in good hands." Frigga sent Tony a soft smile before turning back to Loki. "He has changed much. I no longer see the anger in his eyes, the betrayal and the hurt. It is still there and it will always be there, but he no longer lets it control his actions."

Tony didn't say anything as Frigga bent down at Loki's side and brushed a strand of hair from the bleeding god's face. Frigga didn't want to use her magic to heal Loki, every ounce of it was precious and needed, so they wrapped up Loki's bite wound with Tony's cape to stunt the bleeding. Loki mumbled something Tony couldn't and Frigga looked up at Tony with a grin, motioning for the man to sit beside her.

"He called for you," she said, watching Tony carefully as he placed a hand against Loki's pale blue cheek. "He will wake soon and then we shall perform the spell."

Tony nodded without a word and watched green eyes open and lock with his own, a small smile curling onto Loki's lips before Tony kissed it away. "How many times are you going to approach death and scare the shit out of me like that during Ragnarok?"

Loki laughed at Tony's words, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. "As many times as necessary, _minn lothungr_. As many times as necessary."

Frigga stood up and at her movement, Loki opened his eyes to watch her. "Loki, my dear, we must cast the spell before you grow weaker and Princess Loki returns."

The sorcerer god nodded and with the help of Tony, got on his feet, leaning against an icy pillar as he let out a heavy sigh. "You may start, Frigga. I shall accompany you once the spell has started."

Tony stepped back from Loki as Frigga raised her hands and strands of beautiful sparkling gold seeped from her fingers and danced around Loki. Loki took a few more deep breaths, eyes closed as he raised his own hands, emerald green swirls curling around his body. Frigga's golden magic started to darken until it turned as black as death, boring into Loki's skin wherever it touched him. Loki bit his bottom lip as his own magic started to darken to a sickening black, also bleeding into the injured god. Frigga muttered words under her breath and Tony could feel the pressure of old Ginnungagap suffocating him in an odd way. The queen of Asgard called upon the power, reaching her hands toward the sky as Loki started to shiver, bottom lip quivering as he held back his cries of pain.

Frigga pulled her hands from above her head and stared Loki down, a dark look in her eyes. Her mouth muttered harshly articulated words that made Loki violently shudder with each syllable. A small whimper slipped past Loki's lips and it made Tony cringe as the god fell to his knees, his black magic twining with his body. The god started gasping for air, eyes rolling to the back of his head for a second before he collapsed onto his hands and knees. Loki started gagging on the air and then clear bile spewed from his mouth onto the ice, Tony looking away with disgust. A choked back cry escaped during Loki's retching and Tony looked back to make sure he was okay.

(What the fuck, Loki was not okay; not okay at all!)

That was when the screaming started and Tony just wanted to do something, anything to get Loki to stop because fuck, it was breaking his heart hearing this and by the nine, he shouldn't have come along. Tony squeezed his eyes shut and bit his bottom lip as his hands curled into fists by his side and Loki continued to cry out in pain, sobbing practically as the spell continued its work. Tony didn't know how long it lasted, Loki sobbing in pain with tears streaming down his face as the two worked together to lock up Loki's configuration. When it finally stopped though, the black magic seeped into the air and Loki passed out with a cry, an sudden slash through the air slicing his face across his right eye.

_The physical scar of the usage of Dark Magic._

Tony turned to Frigga, who was on her knees clutching her shaking hands, blood coating her fingers. She turned to look up at Tony with a sad smile, her voice quivering as she spoke. "It is done. We can return to Asgard now."

Tony nodded in response to Frigga, helping her onto her feet before he knelt down beside Loki, who's facial wound was gushing blood. Healing that injury would have to wait; Tony only had a bit of magic left and he needed to us it to teleport the trio back to the Asgard palace, preferably his and Loki's current bedroom. Tony managed to get Loki on his knees before he teleported out of Niflheim, all three magic users collapsing to the floor once they arrived. A flood of magic struck Tony and he went off balance at it, cursing under his breath as his magic returned to him. Frigga tended to her hands, the backs of both hands carrying long deep gashes from the base of her fingers to her wrist. Loki woke up throwing up fire, hacking and gasping for air before he put a hand to his bleeding eye.

"We are alive," Loki gasped out, climbing to his feet. Tony helped him onto the bed and began to tend to his leg wound (boy, that would leave a mark). Loki stopped Tony though and grabbed the man's face, kissing him eagerly. Tony didn't protest and kissed back, lacing his fingers through Loki's dirty messy hair. "Thank you, Anthony."

"No, thank you. You saved all of our asses back in Niflheim by shapeshifting into a bilgesnipe." the shorter man brushed at his face. "I thought they were native to Asgard."

"A few wander through the worlds and Thor used to have one as a pet, but they originate in Niflheim." Loki frowned as he cleaned his eye wound with a spell. A horizontal dark red line from a couple centimeters above Loki's eyebrow went across his eye and ended at his cheek bone. The gash looked mighty painful to say the least, but at least all the blood was gone. "Is there still blood in my eye?"

Tony leaned in and inspected Loki's eye before pulling away with a shake of his head. "Nope; you got it all out with the spell. Dude, that gash is gonna leave a nasty scar. Too bad you can't ever get rid of it."

Loki nodded distractedly, waving a hand in front of his right eye. He did so a few more times before spitting out a torrent of curses. Tony crinkled his brow with confusion until he noticed the lighter shade of green in Loki's injured eye. A short 'oh' slipped from his lips as he gently pressed his fingers to Loki's face, watching the god turn to him with a sad smile.

"I am half-blind, Stark. I can no longer see from my right eye." the god's voice cracked slightly as he spoke. "Not only do I have a permanent scar across my face, but I am blind in one eye as well. Princess Loki may be gone for now, but she will come back and as for my sight, it will never be the same because of it."

"Oh Lolo," Tony whispered, cradling Loki's face in his hands as the god looked away from him. "Come on and look at me." Loki looked over at Tony with a frown and a raised eyebrow. "You can still see and that's good. It's better than being dead or morphing at random times. If it helps at all, you still look beautiful, babe. The scar will give you some stories to tell the kids once this is all done, huh?"

Loki's eyes widened and Tony suddenly realized what he had just said. Never before had he and Loki really talked about what would happen to their relationship once Ragnarok was over. They spoke nothing about marriage, living together, having children, working with the Avengers, growing old together or Tony dying before Loki. The most ever said about the latter was Loki's comment on being with Tony as long as he could. And now, Tony had to bring up children.

(He really needed a mouth filter.)

"I don't necessarily mean _our_ children because there'll be plenty of other kids in the nine after Ragnarok and of course they'll want stories from the survivors of Raganarok and we'll be part of that group so you could share the story of the scar and getting the blind eye to them, you know?"

"Yes, we will inform the other children of this adventure once ours get tired of hearing the story all the time." Tony's eyes widened at Loki's words and he opened his mouth to reply, only to shut it and repeat a few more times. "Close your mouth, dear; you look stupid."

Tony did so and watched Loki climb from the bed. "Hey, where do you think your ass is going? You need rest, Loki."

"I am not going to let this hinder me, Stark. I may be in pain, but the pain will fade. I can use spells and drink something to numb it." Loki looked over at Frigga. "Mother, I want you to go to Svartalfheim and help Eir and Hlin. Odin and Thor have Asgard protected. Sif and the Warriors Three are strong and with the best royal guards by their side, they will keep the Jotunheim Jotuns contained."

"What about Vanaheim and Alfheim, Loki?" Tony smiled to himself at Frigga's small smile at being called mother by Loki once more. "Vanaheim has only Freya and Alfheim has Freyr."

"Anthony and I can go to Alfheim then. I have heard a few old friends of mine are fighting there. Freyr would enjoy our company."

Frigga nodded in approval and Tony took Loki's head before the god teleported them to the entrance of the forest from the first time they visited. At arrival, Tony could immediately here the telltale sounds of multiple battles occurring and he followed Loki through the forest, both sorcerers teleporting to the meadow Tony had met Alfvarthr. The buck was in the grass of the meadow, but his brown flank was splattered with blood and he lifted his head to give Tony and Loki a glance, the latter running toward the fallen creature.

Loki ran his hands over the buck's flank, murmuring something under his breath as his hands glowed green. Tony stood by and watched for suspicious sounds and movements, summoning a sword when a rustle was heard in the trees a few yards away. The sorcerer god looked up from his work at the sound and Tony felt this weird pang in the back of his head before a body went flying overhead, landing in the grass as a heap.

Tony ran toward the body and sighed as he saw it was Sigyn, who was moaning on her side, teeth gritted as she turned toward Tony. "Anthony Stark, the Midgardian Sorcerer. I assume you have come here to fight."

"I have and Loki has come to help as well." the brunette helped the blonde to her feet and Sigyn turned to face Loki and Alfvarthr. "Don't make him do too much; he's injured and blind in one eye, but he's trying to prove that he's not currently disabled."

"He is hardheaded about things like that." the goddess laughed as she dusted herself off. "Loki, come with Stark and I. We are off to fight a few mountain giants if you wish to join us."

"I must take care of Alfvarthr first. I will join you shortly." Tony opened his mouth to protest, but Loki gave him a look. "Go and fight, Stark. You need to stop Ragnarok; it is your destiny."

Tony nodded and followed Sigyn through the forest, wielding his sword as the two ran side by side. Sigyn was an armored blur beside him until she stopped in a meadow, raising a hand. "Here is where I was battling with Asta and a few other elves. It seems as if they have-!"

Tony tackled Sigyn to the ground and they tumbled in a heap as a giant fist came crashing down where they originally were. The sorcerer climbed off the goddess and sent a spell toward the giants face, causing the creature to scream in pain. Hearing that scream reminded Tony of Loki's Dark Magic torture session earlier and this time Sigyn tackled Tony to the ground as the giant attempted to step on them like ants.

"Sorry there," the man mumbled, rolling onto his feet. "Screams are not the fun part of wars."

"Neither is the bloodshed." Sigyn and Tony exchanged smiles before launching simultaneous attacks on the giant, injuring the brown beast enough that it fell to the ground and hit its head hard enough to kill. "I will find Asta and you stay here. Do you know how to cast force fields?"

Tony shook his head and Asta laughed aloud. "Of course not; Loki is quite the proponent of no force fields. He won't teach them to you until you are a master at magic. Loki considers force fields a cheat."

"It is feeling the pain of getting struck in a battle that makes a battle fun, Sigyn."

Both magic users turned at the voice and Tony rolled his eyes at Loki, who was wielding a golden staff that had a blue orb on top along with his horned helmet on his head. The god swung the staff and a ray of concentrate green rushed through the forest, a loud thumping sound reverberating through the ground as something fell. The god walked over to Tony and the man noticed the gash on Loki's face was no longer blazing red and had lightened a bit to a pinky-brown. His right eye though was a milky practically white green that contrasted quite a bit with his emerald green left eye.

"Loki, it is a pleasure to have the Prince of Asgard join Alfheim in this battle today." the blonde goddess bowed her head to the armored god. "Your power is very much needed."

"No need to flatter me, Sigyn. I am not here for any duty other than my duty to protect and fight alongside my friends." Loki turned to Tony. "Are you okay?"

"You ask as if I've never been in a battle before. I'm Iron Man, remember?" Tony crossed his arms as Loki raised his eyebrow. "Yes, I am fine, Loki. I didn't just come back from casting Dark Magic on myself and enter a fight. I can take a beating or three hundred you know."

"Dark Magic?" Sigyn paled slightly as she examined Loki's eye. "The scar of Dark Magic blinded you? Loki, why did you do this to yourself?"

"I have no time to explain, but know that I have a valid reason for performing Dark Magic on myself. My trace is tainted, but no one but you, Frigga, Anthony, and I know." Loki turned toward the battle. "For now though, we fight."

And fight they did.

The three magic users were able to kill five mountain giants before word spread of the arrival of the lost Prince of Asgard and the Midgardian Sorcerer. Some elves came over to help the trio out and Tony wondered if there was a way to make sure people didn't encode his trace as they fought. Maybe during battle, magic moved too fast to be encoded. He certainly hoped so at least.

A question popped into mind as Tony fought alongside Loki and Sigyn. If the giants died, didn't they go to Helheim where the army of the dead was being formed? Well, actually, the army of the dead couldn't be forming without Loki there to do so.

Still, when would anyone know when the war was over? The end of Ragnarok was the arrival of the army of the dead and Surtr with his fire jotnar who then burned all nine worlds to ashes. Until that happened, the war wasn't over, right? How could Tony stop it now if destinies were being fulfilled? Tony knew how to stop Ragnarok from occurring period, but how the hell could he stop Ragnarok while it was in motion? Would he have to kill the leaders of the opposing worlds? Would he have to kill King Byleistr, King Malekith, King Utgard-Loki and King Surtr for this to end. That was a lot of kings.

And then, wouldn't Tony have to kill their kin as well so no sons, daughters, sisters or brothers tried to take the throne? Brown eyes turned toward Loki, who was driving a short sword through the eye of a screaming mountain giant. No, Loki wouldn't take the throne. Princess Loki might though. So, maybe Loki would have to be killed. But no, he couldn't be. Loki would go to Helheim and become the leader of the army of the dead and bring the end of the end.

No matter what, Loki could not die and Princess Loki could not be released. That was the only way to ensure the end of the end not happening. Then, all Tony had to do was kill the kings and their kin and voila! Ragnarok stopped.

**"Loki,"** Tony mind spoke to the god as he sliced the leg of a giant. **"I think I have to kill all the kings of the opposing worlds and their kin to stop Ragnarok."**

_"That sounds about right."_ Loki replied distractedly. _"Kill their leaders and it is easier to calm them down since they have disorder. The nine will be in civil unrest for many years after this, but I think you have an idea that will work."_

**"Awesome."** Tony let out a grunt as he teleported up the giant's body, slicing critical veins in the process. "**I know Ymir isn't the king of Jotunheim, but I should kill him, too. He's kin, right?"**

_"Yes, he is."_

**"Alright then. I'll make a checklist and travel the nine killing people on the list. Kill Bill, anyone?"** Tony laughed to himself as he sliced the giant's neck, teleporting to the ground as the best fell to the ground dead.** "My first task was to travel the nine and stop the congregation. Now, it's to travel the nine and kill the kinds. Do you think the Avengers are battling anything back on Earth?"**

_"Probably a few stray mountain Jotun, but I believe the Avengers have their hands full with settling down the humans. Your kind is at civil unrest as well, Anthony."_ the two locked eyes across the battlefield. _"If you wish to help them, feel free. I am sure everyone would understand."_

**"Not today and not now. I won't go down until I've killed the frost giant royalty, you excluded. You can't die and not because I don't want you to."**

_"I am too young to die anyway."_ Tony snorted at that._ "Asta is here, so I will go fight alongside her and Freyr. Go kill Ymir for the nine."_

With that, the conversation ended and Tony saw Loki leave in a flash of green. Tony himself called his suit to his body and blasted into the air via repulsors, quickly glancing over the noisy forest for any signs of a frost Jotun. There was no ice or frost anywhere Tony could see, so he went north, scanning for any sudden or abnormal drops in temperature.

He didn't find any drops in temperature, but Tony did barely dodge a bolt of orange sent his way.

"Jarvis, what the hell was that?" Tony exclaimed as he inspected the general area with his eyes, palm repulsors pointed at the patch of trees.

"That was magic and by the power in it, it was meant to overpower the suit and shut it down or make contact and promptly implode."

"Cheery thoughts." Tony flew down toward the area and started scanning with his suit for any traces of magic. Many different trails popped up on the HUD screen and less than a second later, Jarvis pinpointed the energy from the bolt of orange to a single trace. Tony followed the trail and hovered in the air as he stared at the blond green-eyes sorceress before him, a wide grin on her lips as her hands glowed bright orange.

This woman was Amora. Tony had never met her before, but Loki had talked about her a bit. She was his fellow magic user in Asgard and they hung out on occasion and shared lessons they learned. Loki unabashedly had a liking for her, but the prospect of the two of them together was crushed for the young god when he found out she fancied Thor. Something happened between the three, Loki didn't explain much, but now, she was doing everything possible to get Thor to be her own.

"It seems as if I have finally caught the Man of Iron's attention." the woman mockingly bowed. "It is a pleasure, Midgardian Sorcerer. Your magic reminds me of Loki's I must admit. I actually thought it was him for a moment. Ah, if only. He would have made a great part of the group if Thanos had agrees to let him in."

"So, you're a part of the congregation?"

"Yes, I am. We have an army of our own, Stark." she spat, teeth bared slightly. "Chitauri, Skrull, Doom bots, Extremis, bilgesnipe and plenty more, along with us villains ourselves. We will fight against Midgard, Asgard, Vanaheim and Alfheim and you will be unable to stop us."

"We already have frost and mountain Jotun to deal with. Let's please not add jealous blonde bitches to the list." Amora snarled, her magic flaring with her anger. "Your army won't do a fucking thing, Amora. Ragnarok is here and if I fail, we all die, you included."  
"I would rather not die, but if it means Asgard burns down with me, I will die as happily as I ever could." Tony frowned; that sounded like something invasion Loki would have said. "If it means Thor goes to Helheim with me, then let the nine blaze."

"Dude, you don't love Thor; you're obsessed with him. If you loved him, you would've let go of the prospect of you two being together long ago." Amora narrowed her eyes at Tony as he spoke. "If you loved him, you wouldn't go after him this way if at all. "Do you know what you like about the guy besides his looks and strengths?"

"Of course I do. Do you know what you even like about Loki besides your uncannily similar histories?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do," Tony starts, almost asking how the hell she knew about him and Loki before recalling the whole knowing bonds through traces thing, "but don't try to turn questions on me as you try to think of a real answer to mine."

Amora rose her hand to cast a spell, but she stopped, turning right twoard a rustle of branches and shrugs. She turned back to Tony before extinguishing her magic. "This is not over yet, Anthony Stark."  
"I certainly hope not. I enjoyed the realization chat. It's a nice break from killing and fighting." Amora sent Tony one last glare before she left in a flash of crisp orange, Tony feeling a new pang in the back of his head. This pang was harsher than Loki's or Frigga's, but hey, at least now he'd know whenever Amora was using magic. "Alright, Jarv, any temperature drops nearby?"

"Yes, sir, there is one to the east. It may be Ymir." Tony flew into the air and spotted ice and frost to his right. Hmm, maybe Amora knew of the arrival of frost Jotun and scampered off because of it. This Jotunheim frost Jotun had a staff in hand and was stomping through the forest arbitrarily, one goal in mind.

"Let's get to him and kick ass."

"Of course, sir."

Tony flew toward Ymir and watched red eyes turn toward him, head cocked with curiosity. A grin grew on the Jotun's lips as Tony hovered in the air, blue magic streaming from his repulsors. His suit scanned the beast as it stepped toward Tony, the man flying backwards as Ymir approached.

"The Midgardian Sorcerer; so we finally meet." Ymir laughed as he spoke English. "Long have I waited to meet a sorcerer of Midgard descent. He is finally here before me as such a powerful hero as the Man of Iron."

"Why do you hate Thor?" Tony cut right to the chase and Ymir's smile turned upside down. "I understand that he killed Thyrm, but I don't get why you want to kill Thor for doing so. Frost and mountain Jotuns are different and all."

"No one else will dare touch the golden Prince of Asgard and he must learn his lesson. I will be the one to teach him so; to teach him and show him how wrong he has been."  
"Ah, I don't know if you go the memo about Thor, but he's a changed god since getting his powers suspended and spending a couple days on Earth as a mortal." Ymir snorted. "It's true. He no longer does stuff like killing violently and ruthlessly in such a manner as he did before. I should know 'cause I'm his teammate."

"Oh, I know you fight alongside the Odinson child, Man of Iron. I question why you are not doing so at this moment."

"He's got Asgard all protected; I'd just be in the way. Besides, I've got more important things to deal with." Tony pointed his palms toward the Jotun's face and watched Ymir's red eyes narrow angrily. "And one of those things is your fat blue ass."

With that, Tony turned his repulsors on full blast and sent two concentrated rays of magic toward Ymir's face, lowering his arms with a frown when the rays of magic flew straight through the Jotun's head as if he wasn't there. Ymir laughed before he swung his thick wooden staff and swatter Tony like a fly, the suited man flying through the air with a hiss of throbbing pain.

Once he righted himself in the air, Tony sent a few more blasts of magic at Ymir and the same thing happened. Ymir's smirk only grew wider before he pointed his staff at Tony and shot a whirl of icy gray toward the brunette, who barely dodged it, only to find out it was a tracking missile sort of thing and he got hit in the back of the head with the bolt of gray.

Tony plummeted to the ground, crashing through trees before he blasted himself back into the sky, locking eyes with Ymir. Why the hell was his magic going through Ymir and not striking him? Was it a spell of some sort or was this Ymir an illusion and the real Ymir was off pillaging Asgard? No, Tony would know of frost Jotun in Asgard. Still, this Ymir could be an illusion. First though, Tony needed to destroy that staff, if he could. It was Ymir's vapn and once it was destroyed, the Jotun would have no weapon to use to power and better attack with his magic.

Tony sent the first bullet of blue from his bare hand having disarmed his left hand so he could blast more magic. The bullet of blue flew through the air and hit its mark, the bottom of the staff exploding on impact. Ymir quickly looked over at Tony with a snarl and launched multiple blasts of gray at Tony, who was hit with all of them but two. Jarvis told him something about the Midgardian weapons in the suit exploding if his back got hit one more time.

So, Tony let the gauntlets on his arms and the shoulders of his suit rise up, showing Ymir the multitude of weapons he had in store. The giant laughed until Tony sent a real missile his way and it got the Jotun on the leg, severely severing the limb. Blue blood gushed from the wound and Ymir cried out with pain, an unforgivable glare in his blood red eyes.

Ymir poised his weapon to fight and Tony immediately sent all his damn missiles, bullets and other weapons toward the Jotun. Blood curdling screams poured out of the frost Jotun's mouth as the weapons hit their mark and proceeded to explode. Tony was splattered with blue blood as the Jotun fell to his knees, giving Tony one last death defying glare. A shiver ran down Tony's spine at that but he ignored it as the smoke began to settle and the stench of burning flesh and iron blood took to the air.

The brunette set himself to fly back to the others, but an unexpected flash of gray came out of the settling smoke and struck Tony square in the chest. Ah, a dying wish spell. Some sorcerers can cast a spell on themselves so that if they get killed, a spell of their choice will be cast on their killer using all of their magic to fuel said spell. The Iron Man suit became flooded with magic, too much magic, and Tony barely had a second to eject himself out the suit before it exploded and he found himself falling through the sky, his magic gone wild and unsettled.

Something of his was on fire, but Tony paid it no mind as he tried to settle down his magic. It was hard to concentrate as his whole body ached and burned, even parts of him he didn't know could burn felt numb with pain. He had killed Ymir (he probably should have used his weapons from the get go) but now he was possibly dying and he couldn't get his damn magic to calm the fuck down and let him cast a healing spell!  
Tony crashed through some trees, cracking branches as he fell through, loose thin branches scratching his face and hands. Luckily, his body was all armored up thanks to his Asgardian armor, so he didn't get too many scratches. He finally stopped his descent when he landed back first on a thick branch that knocked the air from his lungs. Tony slippeed from it and landed face first on a pile of dead mountain giants.

He rose a hand to his face and pulled away to find red blood on his fingers. Great. Climbing to his feet painfully, Tony leaned against the trunk of a tree and caught his breath, every inch of his body throbbing. He couldn't feel his left leg and figured that was the limb on fire. There was nothing he could do about it though until his magic settled down.

The taste of blood flooded Tony's mouth and he found out he had bit the inside of his cheek raw and he had a cut across his lips. Ugh. Tony slumped to the ground, his head buzzing as his eyes darted in and out of focus. No, no, no; he couldn't black out now. Now was not the time to be passing out! Tony called onto his magic and moaned in pain as the horrible sounds of disorientated melodies crashed through his head. Everything was jumbled up and his magic was acting high, not responding to Tony's request to use it.

Tony forced it to calm down, replayed his magic melody over the disgusting one ringing through his head. He felt like his blood was boiling as he continued to settle down his magic and he managed to do so with a final cry of pain, hands shaking as the hum of his magic returned to its cool natural one.

The mortal sorcerer then proceeded to heal his face and hand wounds before tending to his leg, which was charred black, gushing blood and peeling skin. His armor was melted away on his left leg, giving the wound fresh air. As Tony cast the healing spell, his hand glowed blue and he gently ran his hand over the injury. A second after the spell started, the nerves in his leg began to work once more and he let out a scream as the pain came flooding to his senses.

With shaky hands, the sorcerer forced himself to finish the spell, using both hands to speed up the process. The blood clotted, the skin melded back together, and in a matter of seconds, Tony's leg was back to normal except for a thick scar from the middle of his thigh to his ankle. He didn't bother casting more spells to get the scar to go away. One, he was tired and two, it was sort of a memento from killing Ymir once and for all.

"Let's not do that again," Tony grumbled to himself as he forced himself onto his feet. "First off, the people I need to kill."

Ymir was dead, but Tony still had Helblindi and Byleistr to kill, along with any of their wives or children if they had any. Loki never mentioned a thing about his siblings having any other family than the three of them. Once Helblindi and Byleistr were dead, Tony would go to Midgard to help out the Avengers and return to Asgard to kill Malekith, the dark elf king. Then came King Utgard-Loki, who was the mountain giant king. He had no living siblings and only one child Thor killed when he and Loki got tricked by the giant in a competition.

Finally, there was Surtr, the King of Muspellheim and the fire jotnar. He had been supposedly killed by Odin before Thor and Loki were born, but he might rise once more if he gets enough power to do so. Once Surtr was dead, all royalty was wiped out. Tony still had the villain army to take care of. With a sigh, the man walked throught the forest and stayed clear of battles, not ready to go back in just yet. He thought about going back to Asgard to rest for a split second to get back on track.

That was when Tony saw the flashes of green, red and yellow, two pangs in the back of his head alerting him of Loki and Sigyn performing magic. Tony figured the yellow was Asta and he watched her with a bow in hand, striking down giants with magic laced arrows. They locked eyes and the black-haired elf teleported to him with a smile.

"It is a pleasure to see you once again, Anthony Stark." the two shook hands and Asta turned toward the fight. "What a bloody battle. You know of Loki's eye?"

"Yeah, I was there when it happened. Hey, do you think it would be cool if he got an eyepatch like Odin?"

Asta laughed aloud, Tony smiling as well. "That would be a sight to see. I highly doubt we would be able to see it. Loki already dislikes himself and all hiding his blind eye would do is make him feel weaker." Tony nodded in agreement. "The elves here call him auga hvitr or buthlungr auga hvitr."

"White-eye or white eyed prince." Tony shook his head with a chuckle. "I haven't got a nickname for him yet; I think it's a little too soon for me to start teasing him about it. By the way, Ymir is dead."

"Good! He was the most powerful frost Jotun. His death should ease the frost Jotun back." the elf woman motioned to the fight. "Come join us."

"Not now; I got injured by a dying wish spell. My magic healed me up, but it went unstable earlier and I don't wanna test it." Tony motioned to himself and his leg. "If need be though, I'll join."

Asta nodded and in a flash of yellow, she was back in the fight out of the trees and Tony slumped down to the ground with a groan. God, he was sore all over and his magic wasn't helping. The crunch of tress breaking distracted Tony and he turned to find a mountain giant over him, arm raised to strike down the mortal sorcerer. Tony summoned his sword and thrusted it through the giant's leg, using it as a stepping stool before teleporting to the giant's shoulder where he proceeded to send electric magical shockwaves down the giants until it's heart stopped beating and it's brain went dead.

He entered the fight soon after and Sigyn was the first to acknowledge him. Loki spotted him next as the god decapitated an abnormally large mountain giant, black blood spilling to stain the grass beneath them.

_"I assume you have killed Ymir."_ Loki mindspoke as he teleported across the field. _"Utgard-Loki is here attempting to reach Asgard as well."_

**"Yeah, I'll get to him in a second. Ymir got me with a dying wish spell."**

_"Return to Asgard then."_

**"Not now. I ran into Amora."** Loki hummed with interest. **"The villains grouped up as we though and plan on attacking Asgard at least, probably Midgard as well. Thanos is their leader."**

Loki choked on something and Tony spun around on a giant's shoulder, looking for the god. He found Loki smashed into the ground like the Hulk had done back during the invasion, Loki's helmet in the hands of a dirt streaked pale skinned mountain giant. The sorcerer god slowly sat up and the giant rose a fist to strike and kill Loki. Tony jumped over the hand that swatted at him before he summoned a staff and swung it as hard as he magically could, hearing a crack and the yelp of the giant.

_"So the titan you say,_" Loki finally replied, his voice sounding heavy. _"He probably has the Chitauri with him. And possibly many powerful villains. As long as he does not have the Infinity Gauntlet or the Infinity Gems, he poses no real threat."_

**"Uh, okay."** Tony said, not sure what Loki was talking about. **"Where's Utgard-Loki?"**

_"Most likely at the Alfheim palace."_

**"We never did get to visit the elf library together."**

Loki chuckled at that. _"We will go after Ragnarok. Consider it a date."_

**"Best keep that promise, Loki. I'd hate to go all alone."**

With that, Tony teleported himself to the Alfheim palace gates, running toward the sounds of fighting. He skidded to a stop as he arrived at the fight scene and the ground rumbled beneath him, sending him airborne. Tony teleported himself to the ground and looked up at Utgard-Loki, who had thick brown hair tied into a braid, a smirk on his lips and a mischievous sparkle in his blue eyes that looked down at Tony.

"Is this is the mortal the princess runt has fallen for? I wonder if you are as easy to trick as Loki and his brother, Thor." Tony tightened his grip on his staff as Utgadr-Loki knelt down, rocking the ground with his movements.

"Please, let's not go Bilbo and Gollum over this. I'm in no mood for riddles or tricks. I get enough of those already given who my boyfriend is."  
"Then why are you here?" Utgard-Loki raised a curious eyebrow. "Is it to fight?"

"How'd you guess?" Tony replied, pointing his silver staff toward the giant's face. "Why don't we get this done and over with and kill you already?"

"An eager little mortal, aren't you?"

"Perhaps," Tony started, eyes trained on the giant as Utgard-Loki stood up. He kept his staff pointed between the giant's eyes and powered the device, the staff glowing blue with his magic. "I wouldn't call myself eager though. Probably task-driven is the correct phrase."

Utgard-Loki smirked and Tony sent his magic toward the giant's face, teleporting onto the giant's shoulder to send shockwaves until he could get the beast's heart to stop. The bolt of magic hit it's mark, but the giant snatched Tony off his shoulder before Tony could do a thing.

"My my, that hurt." the giants frowned, squeezing Tony, who could feel his bones grit together as he was clenched in Utgard-Loki's fist. "You certainly carry the audacity of Thor. He tried to kill me after finding out he was tricked. Instead, he found himself banished from Utgard."

"Yeah, banish me from your land, too." Tony snarked, wincing as Utgard-Loki's grip tightened. "You might want to let me go."

"And why should I do that, mortal?"

Tony said nothing as he shapeshifted into Loki and threw the golden horned helmet on his head at the giant's face. The horns bore into Utgard-Loki's forehead and Tony fell from the giant's grip, teleporting to land as he blew a loose strand of black hair from his face. He noticed that he couldn't see out his right eye while he was in his manlikan of Loki. Tony didn't have time to wonder as Utgard-Loki threw the helmet at Tony and the guards around the two started to attack the giant's legs. Tony himself shapeshifted into Alfvarthr and rammed his antlers into Utgard-Loki's leg, yanking out for black blood to spout from the wound.

Tony's final shapeshift was into Ymir and he struck Utgard-Loki with an icy shock blast that stopped the giant's heart and sent him to the ground. Tony slammed the butt of his staff into the mountain giant king to insure his death before shapeshifting back into himself, collapsing to his knees panting. His arms and ribs ached and his left leg was throbbing again. Putting a hand on his right side, Tony felt something protruding from his skin and felt sick as the pain came to mind, a hiss escaping his lips.

Damn adrenaline. It always keep the pain of injuries to the back of the mind until the rush it gone. Multiple guards ran to Tony's side and he motioned to his broken rib, gritting his teeth as the pain intensified. Someone commented on shoving the protruding bone back inside to heal the wound with magic and Tony shook his head as blood dripped from his red stained hands. Fuck no was someone gonna shove his bone back into his body; that would fucking _hurt_!

"We will have to do so, sir, or we can not close the wound and you will bleed to death."

Tony knew the guard was right and he knew it needed to happen, but that didn't mean he wanted it to. Note to self, do not battle anymore kings solo. They kept injuring him and at this rate, he wouldn't last a week! The Jotunheim giants, mountain and frost, weren't necessarily the most intelligent race in the nine and so the little mistakes Tony made could slip by. Fighting Malekith, Thanos and Surtr though? He would need company for that.

Someone started to shove Tony's broken rib back inside him as he was lost in thought and he screamed in shock and pain, pulling away with a glare to the guard, who actually wasn't a guard and was Thor.

"What the hell?" Tony asked, frowning slightly. "When did you arrive?"

"Just now, Anthony." Thor said with a sad smile, an apologetic look in his blue eyes. "I was informed of your injury and came here immediately. Once I get this back inside you, I will have Loki escort you to Asgard. He is coming as well."

Tony nodded and braced himself for the pain, biting his lip raw as Thor began to push. He didn't really recall much other than flashes of pain and the sickening crunch of bones and the gut-wrenching sounds of it sliding into place. Thor said something when he was done, probably that Loki had arrived, but Tony didn't remember what it was as he kept dipping in and out of consciousness.

He found himself back in Asgard soon enough and didn't protest as Loki placed him on the bed on his uninjured side. Tony moaned in pain, glaring at the wall before him as he felt the mattress dip beside him. This was so not cool at all.

Tony closed his eyes as fingers gently raked through his grimy hair, easing his mind off the pain. "I much prefer the scent of oil to that of blood."

"Same here." Tony mumbled, itching to turn onto his other side to face Loki. "I want to see your face."

More rustling was heard as Loki moved so he was face to face with Tony like the man wanted. Tony reached a hand out toward Loki's face and Loki's eyes stayed on Tony as the man carefully pressed his fingers to Loki's Dark Magic scar. A sizzling burning sensation crept through his fingers and he pulled away a bit, letting Loki twine their fingers together.

Tony closed his eyes and let out a couple calm breaths, reviewing the events of the morning. When cold lips touched his own, Tony parted his and kissed back slowly, letting the passion and comfort roll through him and help him forget about his current situation. His beard tickled Loki's chin and the god gently brushed his recently untwined fingers over it before pulling away. Tony leaned forward for more and opened his eyes as he felt Loki climb off the bed.

"Where the hell are you going?" Tony asked with a scowl. "I got Ymir and Utgard-Loki already."

"I know you have. Word is spreading of the latter's death. Odin, Thor, Frigga and I must go to Jotunhem, specifically Utgard, and settle the mountain giants down."

"Make sure those giants don't come back to attack. Please calm them down."

"We will try our best. The death of their king will enrage them."

"Things get worse before they get better; that's the way of life." the brunette closed his eyes. "Do not get killed; we're supposed to survive this and grow old together."

"I promise I will not die." Loki's voice was a soft gentle whisper that made Tony smile. "I will return."

"You better." Tony took another deep breath, sighing happily. "Mmm, I love you."

Silence was met with Tony's words and he frowned, opening his eyes as he wondered if Loki had left already. His eyes widened slightly as Loki came into view and Tony received a kiss, Loki pulling away with closed eyes. "I love you, too."

With that, Loki left in a flare of mild green and Tony re-closed his eyes with a smile, letting sleep take him under as Loki's last words echoed through his head.

* * *

There we go! Chapter 14. IT'S SO LONG. I'm really _really_ sorry. I _might_ come back and spit it because that's just super long for a chapter; it's fucking 28 pages long. Anyway, thank you for the reviews and the faves and follows! Everything's wrapping up, folks; only about seven chapters left to go! Don't forget to review! Until next time!~


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